


Getting the Grade

by SerBridgetDock



Category: Fire Emblem Series, Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Genre: College AU, Gen, Modern AU, Multi, Slice of Life, University AU, What if FE3H but it's an actual college, and a handful are jocks too i guess, and all the houses are just rival majors, because they're all nerds, i'll add tags as i go
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-03-07
Updated: 2020-11-08
Packaged: 2021-03-01 01:27:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 16
Words: 47,115
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23056966
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SerBridgetDock/pseuds/SerBridgetDock
Summary: Senior year had finally arrived. Things should be going smoothly. You know, status quo and all that jazz. But now there's a new professor at Garreg Mach University and it turns out no one is prepared for that.
Relationships: Caspar von Bergliez/Linhardt von Hevring, Catherine/Shamir Nevrand, Dorothea Arnault/Ingrid Brandl Galatea, Ferdinand von Aegir/Hubert von Vestra, Marianne von Edmund/Hilda Valentine Goneril
Comments: 46
Kudos: 134





	1. (Edelgard)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> When the doors slid open, she saw Ferdinand just making it to the top of stairs. He was already sweaty and slightly out of breath.
> 
> “Stairs,” he huffed. “Were a bad idea.”
> 
> “I’d think so,” Edelgard answered.

It was senior year. Edelgard was this close to graduation. This close to getting all of this over with and being able to just dive into working at her father’s company. This close to getting her uncle off her back about her grades and every other aspect of her life. She was this close. And now, in possibly the most important class she’ll ever take, she was coming face to face with a brand new professor.

When she’d checked her schedule a few weeks ago and saw the name ‘Eisner’ written under PHYS 471, she almost dropped her phone. She immediately called up Hubert to make sure he’d seen the same thing. Sure enough, they had changed the professors last minute.

Edelgard knew Professor Cichol. She knew how he taught. She knew what he’d expected. She even knew what coffee he drank around three in the afternoon after dealing with mostly freshman all day. Professor Cichol was the one thing she knew that would be able to get her through her final year, her last two semesters, here at Garreg Mach University. And now he was no longer teaching her Physics capstone course. Instead, it was some new professor whose name was completely foreign to Edelgard.

She wasn’t the only one who’d found out, nor was she the only one who was pissed off about it. GMU was normally reliable, at least as far as the science department was concerned. The professors were brilliant. They knew what they were talking about. And they never changed at the last minute. Or at least they didn’t.

Edelgard along with Hubert, Linhardt, and Lysithea marched down to the dean’s office to complain. They didn’t quite make it past her door, however, as they were stopped by Cyril and an inconveniently locked door.

“Rhea’s out,” the assistant said, barely looking up from his computer. “She’s in a meeting.”

Lysithea rounded on him before Edelgard could stop her. Or before she could do it herself. “We need to talk to her about this new professor! They can’t just change things on us at the last minute like that.”

Cyril’s almond eyes flicked to Lysithea. “I mean, yeah, they can. They don’t have to run things by you about any of your classes. Besides, you signed up for the class. Not the professor.”

“Cyril,” Edelgard said, attempting to modulate her father’s CEO voice as best as possible. “We’re in our senior year. I’m taking 21 credits this semester. I need to make sure that this new professor isn’t going to make this any harder than it already will be.”

“They won’t. Rhea wouldn’t just hire someone to teach a capstone class who doesn’t deserve it.”

“Have you met them, though?” Hubert chimed in. “Are you certain they can handle it?”

Cyril narrowed his gaze at Hubert. “No. I haven’t. But Professor Eisner used to teach here, like, twenty years ago. Guess he’s coming back.”

Edelgard blinked at Cyril. “He already taught here?”

“Yeah. He was an old friend of Alois and Rhea, apparently.” The assistant shrugged, his attention returning to whatever was on his screen. “That satisfy you?”

Edelgard looked to the other students who had come in there with her. Their only responses were very non-committal shrugs. She glanced back at Cyril. “I guess.”

“Good.” The edge with which he said that single word was sharp enough to cut through lead. “Because I’ve got a lot of work to do for Rhea and don’t particularly need a distraction right now.” His amber eyes flitted to the door they had entered from. “Have a good day.”

The four of them filed back out of the office, a little deflated but not necessarily upset. Optimistic wasn’t the right adjective for what they were feeling, but they were in better spirits than when they walked in.

Linhardt had found information on their new professor first. Jeralt Eisner had, in fact, worked at GMU. He retired little over twenty years ago after his wife got sick. His students always had the highest GPAs in the school and his class averages were immaculate. He was this close to becoming the Dean of Students when he retired. He was also an assistant football coach and heavily involved in the Honors Program. Linhardt read off what seemed like his entire biography to the group as they walked from the science building back over to the parking lots they’d come from. It eased the tension Edelgard had felt clawing its way up her spine.

They had left campus that day, weeks before the semester was due to start, in as close to a good mood as any of them could manage.

Word spread among the science department about the new professor quickly. Some students wondered if that meant Professor Cichol was stepping back for whatever reason. They worried about his health, but it seemed he’d only dropped this one course. The new/old professor only had the capstone class. It was an odd choice as far as Edelgard was concerned, but it wouldn’t be the first time Rhea had done something like this.

Edelgard couldn’t say she’d put the new professor out of her mind after that, but she certainly wasn’t worried about her first class anymore. She allowed herself to divert her energy to worrying about getting Enbarr Hall ready for the incoming freshman.

That _was_ something she needed to worry about. Her floor partner wasn’t exactly the easiest person for her to get along with. Ferdinand seemed to be under the impression that for the mere fact that they were in the same major, were floor partners, and played similar sports it meant they were rivals. On the one hand, she could use that to trick him into doing a lot of the work while she instead whittled away at the assignments her uncle gave her. On the other hand, she had to deal with Ferdinand von Aegir trying to upstage her on a daily basis. For a year.

The two of them moved in together about two weeks prior to their residents’ arrivals. Immediately upon arriving, Ferdinand _sprinted_ while unpacking his car for his dorm.

“Come on, Edelgard! Let’s see who can unpack the fastest!” He had called as he ran past her the first time.

Edelgard tried not to glare at him as she watched him run into the stairwell carrying far too many boxes than he could possibly carry up the five flights of stairs to their floor. Patiently, she waited for the elevator to arrive. Stepped onto it. Hit the 5 button. And waited for the box to ascend.

When the doors slid open, she saw Ferdinand just making it to the top of stairs. He was already sweaty and slightly out of breath.

“Stairs,” he huffed. “Were a bad idea.”

“I’d think so,” Edelgard answered.

She turned on a dime and stalked off to her room. By her fourth trip, he was out of breath and splayed out across the couch in the lounge. There were three boxes sitting on the ground beside him. He lifted his head to see her walking back out of the elevator again. He attempted to get up, scrambling to grab his boxes and appear to be working. But failed spectacularly. She had already rounded the corner to her room again when she heard him flop hopelessly back down to the couch.

The following two weeks Ferdinand was as irritatingly competitive as he could possibly be. And with only a handful of other RA’s around to run interference, Edelgard was reaching her limit. Thankfully, she somehow managed to make it to the start of the new year unscathed and was already welcoming her new residents. Not long after that, all of her actual friends started milling in.

Between the arrival of the student body, Ferdinand being Ferdinand, and her work assignments, Edelgard had managed to stop thinking about her new professor altogether. She’d accepted Jeralt. She’d accepted having an old retired professor that was just looking to keep himself entertained now that his kid was finally out of the house. She was comfortable with all of that. She was prepared for it.

What she wasn’t prepared for was the big misunderstanding she hadn’t even realized she may have made.

Edelgard would like to think she could be forgiven for straight up dropping the iced coffee she’d brought into class that morning. She’d like to think staring at their new professor standing at the lectern like she was an actual alien was a normal thing. She’d like to think that her reaction to seeing Professor Eisner was as calm and level-headed it could possibly have been. But when the new professor’s blue eyes fell over her, wide with shock, she immediately knew what a poor impression she had just made.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thoughts?


	2. (Edelgard)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dorothea rolled her eyes before nodding at Hubert. “Hubie texted. Said you made a fool of yourself in front of the professor and needed a refill.”
> 
> Hubert’s face darkened. “I did not use the word ‘fool’,” he snapped at Dorothea.
> 
> “May as well have,” Edelgard mumbled.

“Are you alright?” the new professor asked. It sounded like there was genuine concern in her voice.

“Fine, I’m fine. I’m just…” Edelgard trailed off. She didn’t know how to explain to this woman what went through her mind when she saw her. “Surprised, I guess.”

That was possibly the best explanation Edelgard could come up with. It wasn’t inaccurate. She’d expected to see an older gentleman probably sitting behind the lectern. Maybe in a tweed suit, even. But instead, there was this woman.

This new, young professor with blue hair. _Blue_ hair. She dressed not too dissimilar from the majority of the students here: dark jeans, a plain white shirt, and a blue bomber jacket. There were a number of resealed holes up her ears to indicate she once had a ridiculous amount of piercings. The only indication that she wasn’t actually a student was that Edelgard had no idea who she was.

Professor Eisner quirked a brow at Edelgard. “Not what you were expecting, am I?”

The two of them were hunched over the mess Edelgard had made, sopping up the cold liquid with the single box of tissues that were already in the room when they had gotten there. Edelgard was more than a little thankful that she had showed up as early as she had. The only other person in the classroom was Hubert, and he respectfully ran off to find a janitor to clean it up.

Edelgard swallowed thickly. “Not exactly.” She felt her cheeks burning immediately. “We were expecting a different Professor Eisner.”

The other woman chuckled. It was an earnest laugh that Edelgard had not expected. It was… endearing. Professor Eisner rocked back onto her heels to discard her clump of soggy tissues in the trash can beside her. “I heard a few of the students seemed to think my dad was coming back.” She reached for the box of tissues. When she came up empty, she let out a huff and tossed the box as well. She shook her head, mostly to herself, before adding “I don’t know why Rhea didn’t just tell you guys the truth.”

“Wait, you’re Jeralt’s kid?”

Professor Eisner stood up from the mostly cleaned up puddle of iced coffee. She narrowed her gaze at Edelgard. “You know my dad?”

Edelgard could feel the color draining from her face. She stood up quickly. “Well, no. I just… we got freaked out about the last minute change to our schedule. So we, uh, did some research.”

The professor chuckled again, this one bordering on a laugh. “Let me guess, you found out that he used to teach here and that he was one of the better professors, so you didn’t think to make sure that was accurate?”

“Well when you put it like that, it sounds kinda bad.”

“Just a bit.” The older woman smiled at Edelgard. “Well seeing as you already know who my dad is, I think it’s time I found out who you are.”

“Oh, fuck, right.” Edelgard’s face felt like it was on fire again. Not only had she forgotten to introduce herself to her new professor - the whole reason she and Hubert came early to class - but now she just swore in front of her. Forcing her building nerves to the back of her mind, she extended her hand out to her professor and tried to smile earnestly. “I’m Edelgard von Hresvelg.”

The professor’s grip was much firmer than Edelgard would’ve expected. She was deceptively strong. “Professor Byleth Eisner,” the woman said, surprisingly opting for her whole name. “But I’d appreciate it if you didn’t use my first name in class. I have to at least pretend to have some sort of professionalism.”

It was Edelgard’s turn to chuckle. “Probably shouldn’t tell anyone else your first name if you want to keep that up. Especially Dorothea.”

“Thanks for the warning.” Her blue eyes flashed over Edelgard’s shoulder. They went wide with recognition and a relieved smile fell over her features. “Oh, perfect timing. We just ran out of tissues.”

To say Edelgard was relieved that Hubert had returned was an understatement. She had somehow managed to not come off as a complete ass to the new professor, but she knew she was just one slip up away from making their senior year at GMU a total nightmare. The last thing she needed was for her capstone professor to hate her and have a vendetta against her. It was bad enough she didn’t _exactly_ get along with her dean.

It wasn’t long after Hubert’s and the janitor’s arrival that the rest of their class started filing in. Byleth - err, Professor Eisner - stood at the front of the class behind the lectern again. She was entertaining Ferdinand and Caspar’s interrogation while idly doing something on her laptop. Likely checking emails or prepping the lecture for today. Lysithea and Linhardt sat near the front and were openly discussing the new professor. Edelgard couldn’t tell if she noticed or not. Hubert sat to Edelgard’s right and was busy working on his internship project on his computer, already bored with the new professor.

The last person to come to the lecture, as per usual, was Dorothea. Class hadn’t started yet, thankfully, but she still managed to draw everyone’s attention as she walked in.

“Oh wow, of course you’re all already here,” Dorothea said from the doorway. She made a point to juggle the two coffee cups she held in order to pull out her phone and check the time. “You didn’t start early, did you?”

Byl… Professor Eisner simply smiled and said, “Nope, you’re good. We still have a few minutes before class.”

“Oh, thank God,” Dorothea sighed.

Dorothea took the time to look the new professor over before joining Edelgard and Hubert. She took her seat at Edelgard’s left and immediately slid over the second cup of iced coffee she was holding.

“Here you go, Edie,” she said.

Edelgard’s eyes went wide. She immediately snatched the plastic holy grail off the table and sucked down the refreshing liquid. When she came up for air, she gave Dorothea a side glance. “How’d you know I needed one?”

Dorothea rolled her eyes before nodding at Hubert. “Hubie texted. Said you made a fool of yourself in front of the professor and needed a refill.”

Hubert’s face darkened. “I did not use the word ‘ _fool_ ’,” he snapped at Dorothea.

“May as well have,” Edelgard mumbled.

“How did you manage to drop a full iced coffee and get it cleaned up in minutes before everyone showed up anyway?” Dorothea asked.

“Just because it was cleaned up before _you_ got here doesn’t mean it was cleaned up before everyone else did,” Hubert countered.

Dorothea jabbed a finger at Hubert. “Hey, I got here _early_ today. It’s not my fault the rest of you get some sick enjoyment from making everyone else feel inadequate.” Her green eyes flashed to the front of the room. “So what do we know about our new prof?”

“Not much,” Edelgard answered. “Her dad used to teach here years ago. She’s on a first name basis with Rhea.”

“So are we,” Dorothea argued.

“Which is kinda my point. That’s literally all we know about her.”

Dorothea leaned forward over their table to peak around Linhardt’s shoulder. “Hey, Lin,” she whispered.

He turned around to look back at them with an exasperated frown. “What?”

“Were you able to look her up, yet?” Dorothea asked.

Edelgard tried not to draw any more attention to them, but couldn’t help but lean forward to hear what he had to say. Hubert was the only one who was able to keep his composure, as per usual.

“Haven’t been able to get much without a first name, but if she’s anything like Jeralt we’re in good hands,” Linhardt answered.

It took every ounce of willpower for Edelgard to not immediately tell him what the professor’s name was. She had just told Byleth not to tell her students her real name. How could Edelgard turn around and immediately do that.

“Alright, class,” Byle - Professor Eisner - said before Edelgard could say anything. “I think I’ve let that go on long enough for now. Gotta start class at some point.”

The young professor entered some command into her laptop and the screen behind her lit up. In bold letters it read ‘ _PHYS 471: Scientific Arguments: Writing an Undergraduate Thesis_ ’. Underneath that, in much smaller lettering was her name (sans Byleth).

“I’m Professor Eisner,” she said. Her blue eyes flashed back to Edelgard, a knowing look in her gaze. It was so fast Edelgard was sure she must have imagined it. “And welcome to your capstone class. Since I’m new here and you all seem to have a lot of questions about me for some reason, I think we’ll spend today’s class getting to know each other.”

There was an immediate groan that rippled through the class. Even Edelgard couldn’t stop herself from joining in, hunching slightly over her iced coffee.

“Yeah, yeah, go ahead groan. I get it, ice breakers suck. But seeing as _some of you_ have already tried Googling me, I think we ought to get that out of the way now. Yeah?”

She only received some nods and a few non-committal shrugs in response.

“Love the enthusiasm,” Professor Eisner said. “Here’s what we’ll do. I’ll ask all you one question that I want you all to answer, and then each of you can answer me one question. I’ll start us off real easy. What are your names?”

By the end of class, Professor Eisner had learned everyone’s favorite food, favorite TV shows, if anyone had siblings and how many, everyone’s favorite pizza toppings, if anyone had plans after graduation, where everyone came from, what everyone’ Hogwarts house was, and that everyone in class (minus Petra and Dorothea) had tried looking her up prior to the start of the semester.

She had shared a fair bit about herself as well. Edelgard (and everyone else, of course) learned that she had not gone to GMU as Lysithea had assumed, but to Remire University. She had her master’s in Mechanical Engineering and was working toward her PhD, but didn’t say where. She travelled a lot as a kid and didn’t exactly feel like she came from anywhere. She refused to say how old she was or if she was single. Her father, Jeralt, was an old friend of Rhea’s and actually attended GMU. She had never met Rhea until her interview. She never exactly wanted to become a professor, but couldn’t pass up the opportunity as it was easier than what she was doing before and it paid better. Unfortunately, that was the last question they could ask her, so Byleth refused to tell them what she did before this.

Linhardt still hadn’t gotten her first name, but spent the rest of the class period furiously trying to find out more information about the new professor. Dorothea had grown bored once Professor Eisner moved onto discussing the syllabus, and had moved on to working on the play she was writing. Even Ferdinand had lost himself in his computer, typing up a report for who knows what. It seemed only Edelgard was interested in learning what would be expected of them this semester. Or rather, she was pretending to be listening.

She desperately wanted to open her computer and look up their new professor. She knew her name. Her _full_ name. She could easily find out more about the new professor. About Byleth Eisner, an overwhelmingly inexperienced professor who had been foisted upon them in their final year at GMU. But she knew that if she did it here in class, everyone would know that she knew the professor’s first name. Edelgard wasn’t quite sure why she wanted to keep that a secret, exactly, but it certainly felt like an invasion of privacy to know that.

So, instead of giving in to her own curiosity, she left her laptop in her backpack and stared straight ahead like this was the most interesting lecture she’d ever attended.

Professor Eisner let them go once the syllabus was covered. She didn’t even give them homework before sending them on their way. While it was odd, Ferdinand was the only one to stick around and ask about it. Everyone else was just grateful that they could slip away without having any real homework just yet.

On her way out of the classroom, Edelgard caught Byleth’s eye. The professor rolled her eyes at Ferdinand’s questioning, eliciting a snicker from Edelgard.

“Seems even the new professor is tired of Ferdie,” Dorothea mumbled to Edelgard.

“He has that effect on people,” Edelgard agreed.

Hubert hummed in agreement.

“Are we getting lunch, Edie? Or do you have to go deal with the kiddos again?” Dorothea asked.

They’ve tried to get lunch over the past few days before classes. But each time they’d been interrupted by one ‘crisis’ or another. Edelgard’s residents were proving to be a needy bunch this year, and it’s only been a few days.

“I probably should go deal with them, but I am _craving_ some peach sorbet,” Edelgard answered.

"That’s not exactly lunch, is it?” Dorothea teased.

“Oh, shut up,” Edelgard said laughing.

“Will you be joining us, Hubie?” Dorothea asked.

Whatever Hubert’s excuse for not coming along was, Edelgard didn’t hear it because her phone had chimed. She grimaced when she saw who the text was from. Her uncle needed her help with something, or at least that’s the excuse he was using this time to test her once again. It was fine when he did this over the summer when Edelgard didn’t have class or RA duties or practices. But now that the semester has begun in earnest, she would have to tell him to back off.

… later.

“Can I get a rain check?” Edelgard asked.

“Edie, no!” Dorothea whined. “Tell the little jerks that they can figure out whatever mess it is on their own. I just want to get lunch!”

Edelgard let out a shaky laugh. “It’s my uncle, Dorothea, not my residents. I gotta deal with this.”

“I thought you weren’t supposed to get more assignments from him once you were in school,” Hubert said.

“I’m not. Which is why I have to deal with this.” Edelgard groaned and raked her fingers through her hair. “We’ll do dinner later. After practice, I promise.”

Dorothea sighed exaggeratedly. “Fine, I’ll go get food with Sylvain again.”

“I don’t understand why you hang out with him,” Hubert grumbled.

“And I don’t get why you spent time with Ferdinand. But I don’t ever bring that up, do I?”

“You just did.”

Dorothea smiled softly and pat Hubert’s arm. “Irony is not your strong suit, Hubie.” She cocked her head around Hubert to look at Edelgard. “You only get so many rain checks this semester, Edie.”

Edelgard was already walking away toward her dorm when she said, “I’ll try and not exceed that quota.”

“Do _not_ stand me up at dinner!” Dorothea warned as she walked away.

“Wouldn’t dream of it,” Edelgard called back.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thoughts?


	3. (Dorothea)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ingrid rolled her eyes yet again, though this time it was accompanied by an earnest smile and a light blush. “Yes, really. Outside the family, you’re the first person I’ve told.”
> 
> “Well, I’m honored,” Dorothea admitted. She surprised herself by how sincere she sounded as she said it. “I know how uncomfortable it can be to admit the sort of stuff. Especially around your friends.”
> 
> Ingrid chuckled. “Don’t act like your friends aren’t ridiculously rich as well.”
> 
> Dorothea flashed her a wicked grin. “Why do you think I’m cozying up to Edie so much?”
> 
> Ingrid’s smile faded, her green eyes snapping away from Dorothea. Dorothea worried that she said something wrong, but couldn’t figure out what.

Sylvain’s copper eyes widened as he stared at Dorothea’s phone. They flitted between her and the photo on her screen several times.

“Okay, she’s hot,” he said before passing her back her phone.

“Right?!” Dorothea agreed enthusiastically.

She passed her phone to Fleix next. She and Sylvain studied him carefully waiting for any sort of reaction on his face. His brow only knit together. Which could mean any number of emotions. Anger. Curiosity. Boredom. Jealousy. It was anyone’s guess.

“How old is she?” Felix finally asked before passing the phone over to Ingrid.

“Not a clue,” Dorothea admitted. “Lin couldn’t find _anything_ on her.”

“How did you manage to get such a clear picture without her noticing?” Ingrid asked incredulously. She handed Dorothea her phone.

“I’ve had years of practice,” Dorothea jokes.

Ingrid grimaced. “That’s only mildly concerning.”

Dorothea waved her off with a chuckle. “Don’t worry, Ingrid, she’ll never know I took the picture. Caspar and Ferdie had her well and distracted when I took it.”

“I mean, that’s not what’s concerning…”

“Do you have any sneaky pictures of your other professors?” Sylvain asked excitedly. Suddenly his eyes widened even further. He leaned over the table with a wicked grin. “Do you have any pictures of _us_ that we don’t know about?”

Felix grumbled into his sandwich, already bored with the conversation. Ingrid simply rolled her eyes and took a sip from her protein shake. Sylvain’s copper eyes were trained on Dorothea’s face, waiting patiently for a response.

Dorothea tossed around the idea of playing into his curiosity by letting him flip through her gallery. Instead, she closed her phone and put it back in her puse. “I suppose you’ll never find out.”

Sylvain leaned even farther over the table, his grin only deepening. He cupped his face like he was trying to whisper something directly to her, but made sure Felix and Ingrid could both hear. From the way his copper eyes fell to Ingrid, Dorothea knew this was going to be interesting. So _of course_ she leaned into his antics.

“You have a whole album titled ‘ _My Ingrid_ ’, don’t you?” He half-whispered.

Ingrid’s reaction was immediate. Her green eyes went wide as she choked on her drink. There was a pink dusting on her cheeks. It was hard to tell if the flush was from Sylvain or from straight up choking. She lowered her drink as Dorothea and Sylvain burst out laughing. Even Felix struggled to not laugh audibly.

“Sylvain!” was the only warning either of them got before Ingrid threw her silverware at them both.

Dorothea was able to dodge the plastic seeing as Sylvain was the real target. Their laughter erupted once more when the spoon smacked him just under his eye. The look of shock and horror on his face even managed to draw a chuckle from Ingrid.

Dorothea leaned slightly to Sylvain, but she stared straight at Ingrid. The other girl stared back, pink creeping up her neck already. “You should see the folders I have on my laptop,” Dorothea said to Sylvain, her voice low and thick.

“Dorothea!” Ingrid complained, but she didn’t throw anything this time. She just stared at Dorothea with a slowly reddening visage.

Sylvain and Dorothea rocked back in the booth, laughing uproariously. Ingrid tried scolding them, but she couldn’t be heard over their own laughter. She eventually gave up and went back to sipping bitterly on her protein shake.

Felix shook his head at them both. “You’re both children,” he grumbled.

“And yet you associate with us anyway,” Dorothea retorts.

“It’s almost like he actually likes us,” Sylvain teases.

Felix exaggeratedly rolled his eyes. “I thought the new professor was supposed to be some retired old guy.”

Of course he had them circle back to their original topic. From the blush creeping up his neck, nearly red enough to match Ingrid’s, it was clear he was uncomfortable by the indication that he had any sort of emotions. Least of all for those he had deigned to share a meal with today.

“Yeah, apparently not,” Dorothea explained. She poked at her salad with a bored sigh. “There are apparently two professor Eisners. There’s Jeralt, the one who taught here twenty some odd years ago, and then there’s his daughter. The hot one who showed up today.”

“Okay, but like… how old _is_ she?” Sylvain asked. “She looks about our age.”

“What? Are you planning on asking her out or something?” Ingrid asked.

Slyvain shrugged. “Maybe. I mean, she’s not _my_ professor. I don’t think there’s anything against that.”

“Something tells me you’re not her type,” Dorothea said. “She didn’t have the patience for Ferdie. I doubt she’d have it for you.”

Sylvain jokingly gasped. “Did you just compare me to Ferdinand von Aegir? God’s gift to man?”

Felix chuckled quietly, not adding anything else to the conversation. Ingrid flicked him for laughing, but made no move to correct Dorothea or Sylvain.

“I did,” Dorothea admitted. “You guys are in the same Frat. And you’ve both got that whole…” she gestured up and down Sylvain with her fork “...jock thing going for you.”

“What do you have against jocks, _theater kid_?” Ingrid countered.

All three of Dorothea’s lunch mates were decked out in their athletic gear, as they all had practice right after this. Ingrid quirked a brow up at Dorothea expectantly. There was a dangerous glint in her eye that made the corners of Dorothea’s lips turn upward.

“Oh nothing. Nothing at all. Just… you’re all a bit… intense.”

Dorothea couldn’t help but smile confidently at the flush spreading over Ingrid’s cheeks again. She could feel both Felix and Sylvain staring at them. But in that moment, she didn’t care terribly much. Not even the scowl Ingrid shot her affected her. She knew she didn’t mean it. Not really.

“Someone should tell Leonie,” Sylvain finally said, cutting into the tense air between them all.

Felix whipped his head toward him, eyes narrowed. “Tell her what?”

Sylvain had already pulled his phone out of his pocket to text her. “That Jeralt’s not the new professor.”

“Why?” Ingrid asked.

Sylvain made a face as he typed. It was the same sort of focused look he always wore when he had to do something on his phone. It was like watching her mother try and turn on the computer. “She knew Jeralt, apparently. She was super stoked to find out he was teaching here again. Gotta make sure she doesn’t make a fool of herself by barging into the new prof’s office unannounced or something.”

“You know none of us are actually friends with Leonie, right?” Felix said dryly. “How would we know that?”

“That seems a bit harsh,” Dorothea mumbled out.

“What?” Felix arched a brow at her. “We’re not. We’re only friendly with her because Sylvain hangs out with her. And because she’s the only girl Sylvain actually treats like a person aside from Ingrid.”

“Hey, I treat all women like they’re people!” said Sylvain indignantly. His gaze flashed to Dorothea pleadingly. “Right?”

Dorothea couldn’t help but chuckle derisively. “Oh, you don’t want me to answer that.”

Sylvain wore a look of mock pain. “Hurtful.”

“Truthful,” Dorothea returned with a tilt of her head.

With that, she stood up from the table bringing her tray with her. She strode over to the trash cans hiding just around the corner. She could hear soft footsteps behind her and reasoned that it was Ingrid who had followed after her. As she dumped her garbage, her suspicions were proven correct.

“Maybe don’t order such a large salad if you’re not gonna finish it,” Ingrid chided. She stepped forward to toss her empty protein shake.

Dorothea rolled her eyes. She barely moved out of the way, forcing Ingrid to get as close to her as possible. She fought the smile playing on her lips as their arms brushed against each other. “They messed up my order.”

Ingrid gave her a deadpan stare that made it clear she didn’t believe her. “They must mess up your order a lot considering how often you throw out your salads.”

“Are you about to tell me I don’t eat enough again? Because I’m getting dinner with Edie later and need to save room. She always orders way too much food after practice.”

Ingrid’s expression dropped slightly. Dorothea couldn’t begin to figure out why. “Did you at least eat breakfast?”

Dorothea scoffed. “Yes, _mom_ ,” she said exaggeratedly. She stepped toward Ingrid and threaded her arm through hers. She walked them back over to their table to collect their belongings. “Honestly, I don’t think I’ve met anyone as pestering as you. Not even my actual mom.”

Ingrid disengaged from her when they reached their table. “Yeah, well, someone has to make sure you eat.”

She leaned into the both and grabbed both her backpack and Dorothea’s purse. Dorothea pretended to be looking elsewhere as she did. She handed the purse over one handed and slung her backpack across her shoulders.

“Well, thank you,” Dorothea said, taking her purse with a flashy grin.

Ingrid, only nodded in response before turning her attention to their lunch mates. She placed one hand on her hip and looked down her nose at them. “Are you two coming? Or are you gonna sit here through practice?”

“Tempting as that is, I think Coach Gilbert would lynch me for attempting that,” Sylvain admitted, though he made no move to leave.

“I had practice this morning,” Felix said bluntly.

Ingrid let loose an exasperated sigh as they both sat there on their phones. “Alright, fine. I’ll see you guys later.”

Ingrid turned on the spot and nodded at Dorothea. Dorothea made a point to link their arms again as they walked off. She glanced over her shoulder at Sylvain before departing and called out to him, “We still have to talk about Rush Week!”

“Later!” He returned.

Dorothea rolled her eyes before looking forward again.

Their walk toward the field house went by quicker than either of them seemed to want it to.

Along the way, they talked about their first day of classes and how they were not looking forward to having to leave GMU. Ingrid at least had a plan for what she wanted to do in the future. She certainly didn’t join ROTC because she needed the financial aid. But even that seemed to have changed since the two first met; Ingrid no longer seemed particularly enthused by the idea of joining the military after college. Dorothea, on the other hand, was still at a complete loss even now with only two semesters left. It was clear neither of them were ready to leave just yet. A stark contrast to how they felt in their senior year of high school.

“Edie told me I’d have a job at her family’s company if I wanted one,” Dorothea said. “But there’s a lot of politics involved in that job. I don’t really want to deal with that.”

Ingrid’s jaw clenched slightly. “Yeah, I don’t think the military’s much better on that front.”

“You don’t have to join up if you don’t want to, right? You’d have to pay them back for the last few years, but otherwise it’s not required… Right?”

Ingrid nodded. “Yeah. But I can’t do that to my dad. We’re not exactly in the place to pay that back right now.”

Dorothea’s eyes widened. She leaned away from Ingrid to get a better look at her. The other girl flashed her an apprehensive glance. “I thought you guys were… well, rich. I mean, I’ve been to your house.”

Ingrid let out a tired laugh. “My grandparents were. That money hasn’t exactly lasted the way they had hoped it would for us.”

Dorothea blinked at her before staring forward again. “How did I not know this…?”

She felt Ingrid shrug at her side. “It’s not something I talk about much.”

“Not even to me, apparently.”

Ingrid shook her head, but Dorothea could hear the smile in her voice as she spoke. “I haven’t even told Dimitri.”

“No,” Dorothea balked. A satisfied smirk fell over her features. “Really?”

Ingrid rolled her eyes yet again, though this time it was accompanied by an earnest smile and a light blush. “Yes, really. Outside the family, you’re the first person I’ve told.”

“Well, I’m honored,” Dorothea admitted. She surprised herself by how sincere she sounded as she said it. “I know how uncomfortable it can be to admit the sort of stuff. Especially around _your_ friends.”

Ingrid chuckled. “Don’t act like _your_ friends aren’t ridiculously rich as well.”

Dorothea flashed her a wicked grin. “Why do you think I’m cozying up to Edie so much?”

Ingrid’s smile faded, her green eyes snapping away from Dorothea. Dorothea worried that she said something wrong, but couldn’t figure out what. It wasn’t until Ingrid’s footsteps stopped that she realized what the change was about. They’d arrived at the field house.

“Well, that was quick,” Dorothea grumbled.

Ingrid grumbled in agreement. She slipped from Dorothea’s arm and shouldered her backpack higher. “You have any plans after dinner?”

The look she gave Dorothea was an expectant one. Dorothea didn’t know why, but she’d be lying if she said she didn’t enjoy it.

“Not just yet,” Dorothea admitted. “But I do need to start planning Rush Week with Edie and Sylvain and, God willing, Caspar. Assuming he remembers to show up.”

Ingrid nodded. “Alright, I’ll see you tomorrow then?”

Dorothea smiled back. “It’s a date.”

Ingrid tossed her head back with a groan. “Dorothea!” The pink dusting on her cheeks was more than worth it, though.

Dorothea backed away with a wave and a wink. “Until tomorrow, _my Ingrid_.”

The blush only deepened on Ingrid’s cheeks at that, as did her scowl. Satisfied, Dorothea turned around to walk back to where they just came from.

She had a meeting with the theater department back in Myrddin Hall to discuss this semester’s play. Dorothea knew if Ingrid had known about the meeting, she’d never have let her walk her to practice. Which is why she had sworn Felix and Sylvain to secrecy before Ingrid even arrived. Which meant she’d have to take the long way back, so Ingrid didn’t catch on. As far as Dorothea was concerned, it was worth being a few minutes late to her meeting.

* * *

By the time Dorothea got out of her meeting, Edelgard and Ingrid’s practice was just ending. Since she didn’t finish her salad, Dorothea’s stomach was already rumbling. She knew Edie would be just as hungry. So she didn’t even hesitate to call her.

“Hey, watsup?” Edelgard asked nonchalantly.

“Are we still on for dinner?” Dorothea inquired.

“Of course! I’m _starving_ ,” Edelgard answered emphatically. “I was gonna hop in the shower. I can meet you at Myrddin.”

“That’ll take too long,” Dorothea announced. “I’ll pick us up something from _Osaka_ and bring it to your room. You want your usual?”

 _Osaka_ was their favorite restaurant in town. It was a sushi and hibachi restaurant owned by the sweetest old couple they’d ever met. Edelgard always got to show off her Japanese whenever they went. Dorothea was pretty sure they thought they were a couple, not that either she or Edie were bothered by it.

“Yeah, sure,” Edelgard answered. “Can you order extra gyoza, though?”

“Isn’t that your usual?”

Edelgard laughed through the phone. “Yeah, I guess it is. See you in twenty?”

“Maybe thirty. We’re about to order a lot of food.”

“How is that faster than Myrddin again?” Dorothea could hear her smirk through the phone.

“Because I don’t have to wait for you to figure out which station to order from for thirty minutes _after_ you shower.”

Edelgard laughed again. “Alright, alright. See you in a half hour.”

Dorothea’s estimate of thirty minutes was basically perfect. The food only took fifteen minutes, but in the time it took her to get to _Osaka_ , return to campus, find a parking space, and remember where Edelgard’s new room was thirty minutes had passed.

She drew a lot of hungry glances from the residents of Edie’s building as she walked through. She carried better food than any of them were going to see all semester. Not to mention was it an obscene amount of food. It was always a wonder that they ever managed to finish the food they got from _Osaka_. One particularly bold freshman offered to help her carry the bags of food in exchange for one of the containers of fried rice. She declined, as politely as she could manage. She didn’t want another talking to from Edelgard about scaring all her residents. Again.

When she got to Edie’s room, Dorothea had to put one of the bags down in order to knock on the door. She was about ready to tease her for keeping her door shut and not dealing with the kiddies when Edelgard opened the door.

She was already in her pajamas. She wore bright red athletic shorts that had been worn from years of use. The silky black tank top atop it had golden lines threaded throughout the fabric that denoted a wing. Her toned muscles were on display in the minimal clothing she wore to bed. If Dorothea didn’t know any better, she’d let herself stare at those shoulders all night. Edelgard’s hair was still in a towel, but Dorothea could smell the shampoo and conditioner wafting off of her regardless. She stood slightly pigeon toed. Her eyes were wide and… apologetic, almost. Her brow was knit and she bit her lip slightly.

“I did a thing,” the shorter woman blurted out before Dorothea could get a word out.

Any comment, question, or retort Dorothea had a moment ago was gone. She just blinked down at Edelgard. “What kind of thing?”

“Don’t get mad.”

Edelgard avoided her gaze. She reached down and grabbed the other bad of food off the ground and stepped into her dorm. Dorothea smirked mostly to herself. She rarely ever got to see Edie like this, all embarrassed and uncomfortable. Last time it happened was after she’d made out with Lysithea last semester at a party.

“What did you do?” Dorothea asked, a sadistic curiosity rising in her.

Mentally, she ran through a list of possible trysts Dorothea could be mad about. The only one might be Ferdinand, but she could never see that happening. Edie and Ferdie would tear each other apart before tearing each other’s clothes off. Maybe Petra? Then again Edelgard never saw her much as anything other than a little sister, or perhaps a cousin.

Edelgard made an attempt to not seem frantic as she shut the door behind Dorothea. She then sprinted to her bed, carefully positioning herself between the mattress and Dorothea. “I… may have Googled the professor.”

Dorothea’s eyes went wide. She dropped the bag in her hands to Edelgard’s desk. “You found something, didn’t you?”

Edelgard nodded. She turned around to her mattress. She plucked her laptop off of the bed. She flipped it open. Dorothea watched with rapt attention as Edelgard typed in her password.

“But you can’t tell anyone, Dorothea,” Edelgard said quickly.

“What? Why not?”

Edelgard’s lilac eyes lifted to hers and there was a hesitation in her gaze. A fearful pause that made Dorothea want more than anything to be able to snatch the laptop from Edelgard’s grasp. “Because the professor doesn’t want us to know her name.”

Dorothea blinked in response. “You knew her name and didn’t tell me.”

Edelgard sighed. “She asked me not to.”

Dorothea groaned. She wanted to be angry at her for not sharing. She also wanted desperately to immediately tell Sylvain and Ingrid what Edelgard found out. But more than anything, she wanted in on the secret.

“Okay, fine!” Dorothea threw her hands in the air in defeat. “I won’t say anything. Now show me what you found.”

Edelgard spun the laptop around on her palm. She held it out to Dorothea with an expectant look.

Dorothea’s eyes went wide when she saw the picture on the screen. Her mouth went dry and she heard herself gasp. No matter how much she wanted to, she couldn’t tear her gaze away from the laptop. “Holy shit,” was all she could manage to say.

“I know,” Edelgard agreed.

“That… is a lot of skin.”

“I _know_ ,” Edie repeated.

Dorothea swallowed thickly. “I can see why she didn’t want us to know her full name.” Then she snapped her gaze up to Edelgard accusingly. The shorter woman didn’t cower in response, but that fearful look was back. “Wait… how _did_ you know her full name?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thoughts?


	4. (Byleth)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Sylvain Jose Gautier,” the boy said, his grin still not reaching his copper eyes.
> 
> Byleth fought the urge to scowl. “Using our full name, are we?”
> 
> “Gotta make a good first impression, right?”
> 
> Byleth ignored that comment entirely and turned to the girl.
> 
> “Leonie Pinelli,” the girl said. Her grip was unnecessarily strong. Like she was testing Byleth almost. “You’re stronger than you look,” she conceded as she released Byleth’s hand.

It had only been one day. She’d only had one class so far. No one should be coming to her office hours today. Hell, she’d even argue that _ she _ shouldn’t go to her office hours today. But when Byleth woke up in her apartment that morning, she knew she couldn’t just stay home. Not only would she be bored out of her mind, but it would be an awful start to a brand new job she still wasn’t sure she was qualified for.

The only problem was that she was awake hours before her office hours were supposed to start. She stalled as much as she was willing to. She went to the gym. Took a shower. Got breakfast in town at the cafe her father recommended; it was okay, at best. She walked to campus, reasoning that she could use the fresh air and the car ride would take too long. She strolled through the science building, taking note of each room, closet, and bathroom as she passed. She had to commit this place to memory, she told herself - as if she hadn’t already done that.

By the time she made it to her office, she was still early by about a half hour. She set her bag down on the ground behind her desk.

She still wasn’t used to having a bag over a backpack. She felt far more comfortable with backpacks than bags or purses. But since she already looked like a student, she felt the need to distance herself from them. At least visually. Hence the bag.

“ _ You probably won’t get any students coming by for anything serious on the first few days _ ,” Rhea had told her during her tour. “ _ It won’t be until the first test or quiz that they start dropping by. I’m not gonna lie to you, office hours can be fairly boring _ .”

Byleth was counting on it. She didn’t want to have to pretend to be some all important professor today. Nor did she want to deal with someone else who magically knew her father like basically the entire faculty and staff did already. Instead, she wanted to spend her office hours binging  _ Glow _ on Netflix once again before the next season dropped. Not that she wouldn’t be doing that back at her apartment if she hadn’t come in, but at least coming into the office let her feel productive.

She was about finished with the first episode when there was a knock at her door. Byleth stole a glance at the clock to make sure her office hours had officially started. And of course they had. It had been fifteen minutes since they started.

“Come in,” Byleth called, removing her ear buds and hiding Netflix behind a word document.

When she lifted her eyes from her screen again, she wasn’t greeted by a student like she’d expected.

“Catherine,” Byleth couldn’t hide the surprise from her voice. “Need help with the upcoming exam?”

The other woman laughed heartily before striding into Byleth’s office. Without prompting, she dropped down into the seat across from Byleth. She had one leg bent up underneath her and leaned back against the chair with a calm smile.

“How’d your first day go, newbie?” Catherine asked.

Byleth rolled her eyes. She leaned back in her own chair, mirroring Catherine’s posture. “Well enough, I think. They all called me ‘ _ Professor _ ’, so at least they don’t know I’m barely older than them.”

“There you go!” Catherine said enthusiastically. “What’d you think of the Hresvelg girl? Intense, right?”

Byleth blinked at Catherine. Of all the students she met yesterday, the young heiress was one of the less intense ones. Lysithea and Ferdinand? Now they were intense. Caspar, too, but for different reasons. Edelgard was clearly something else, but she certainly didn’t come off as intense. Determined, yes. But not intense.

“I don’t know if ‘ _ intense _ ’ is the word I’d use,” Byleth admitted.

Catherine laughed. “It’s okay, you can tell me what you really think. I am her coach. I know her better than just about anyone. Probably.”

Byleth chuckled. “Honestly, Catherine, I didn’t really get to know her all that well. It was only one class.”

“Right, but I’m sure she showed up early. Probably tested you to see if you’re as good as she expects you to be. Maybe even asked you a few questions about physics to make sure you knew your stuff.”

Byleth cocked her head to the side. “Well, she did show up early. But she didn’t do any of that. We just… talked.”

They also cleaned up the massive iced coffee she dropped on the floor. But there was no need to mention that. Probably. Though, if Catherine knows Edelgard as well as she claims to, then the embarrassment of dropping an iced coffee could explain why she didn’t act as Catherine had expected.

“Hmm, odd,” Catherine conceded finally. She tossed her hands in the air with a shrug. “Whatever. I’m not here to talk about the students anyway.”

“Is that not what all the professors talk about here?” Byleth teased.

“Hanneman and Manuela might. But the rest of us actually have lives outside our students. Which is what I came to talk to you about.”

Byleth arched a brow at Catherine. “Oh?”

Catherine nodded. “Yep.” She shifted her position again, putting her other leg beneath her now. “Shamir and I started a softball league among the faculty and staff here a few years back. I was wondering if you wanted to join.”

Byleth scratched her head. “I don’t know, I’m not particularly good at softball.”

Catherine guffawed. “You’re Jeralt’s kid, of course you are. He’s the one who actually started this league, you know? We just restarted it, is all.”

Byleth fought the urge to roll her eyes. “I haven’t played since high school, Catherine. I’m  _ very _ rusty.”

“Nothing a few practices can’t fix. Just gotta grease you up and you’ll be good as new.”

Byleth snickered, arching a brow at Catherine. When she didn’t respond, she realized that she did not hear the same thing Byleth did. So she ignored it. “I’ll hold back whatever team I’m on. Seriously. You should probably ask someone else.”

“Oh come on!” Catherine pleads. “Look, I’m down a player ever since Seteth got hurt last year and he refuses to play again. And I can’t let Shamir win. Not this year.”

Byleth’s legs twitched. She gnawed on her lip and looked off to the side uncertainly.

“I know you’re athletic, Byleth. I’m sure you can just hit home runs with those arms of yours! I mean look at them!” Byleth quirked a brow at Catherine. She was still blissfully unaware of how her words could be interpreted. “Come on! Please. For me?”

Byleth let out a defeated sigh. “Okay, fine. But if I make a fool of myself, it’s on you.”

Catherine laughed again. “I seriously doubt you could.”

Byleth chuckled. “I think you have more confidence in me than Rhea does.”

“Rhea’s a good judge of character. When she trusts someone, I trust them. When she’s confident in them, so am I.”

“Confidence in my ability to teach physics doesn’t exactly translate well to confidence in my athletic ability.”

“Well, I’ve already seen your athletic ability in action. I’m not worried. Unless you choke. Because then we’ll have to stop hanging out.”

Byleth laughed. “I’ll do my best to avoid that.”

“Please do. Shamir can _ not _ win this year.”

“Is this just a healthy competition? Or is there more to the story here?” Byleth asked with a smirk.

“It started as a healthy competition. Now we have an ongoing bet.”

Byleth’s interest was piqued. She leaned forward to put her hand on her chin. “Oh?”

Catherine squirmed a little under Byleth’s watchful gaze, though Byleth reasoned it had more to do with Shamir than herself. “It’s a bit personal…” There was a flush on her cheeks as she spoke.

Byleth leaned back finally with a soft chuckle. “Hey, you don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to. All I need to know is that there’s a bet at stake. Now I’ll try harder.”

Catherine couldn’t even pretend to not be shocked. “You mean you weren’t going to try?”

“I never said that,” Byleth lifted a finger. “I’ll just try  _ harder _ now.”

“You better,” Catherine warned.

Byleth smiled softly. She lifted one hand and placed the other over her heart. “I promise.”

That seemed to satisfy Catherine. “Good. We have our first practice tomorrow at 6:00pm if you can make it.”

Byleth blinked at her. “I thought you were joking about having practice.”

“I never joke about practice,” Catherine said seriously.

Byleth shook her head with a sigh. “What did I just sign myself up for?”

“A winning game, that’s what.”

“It better be.”

At that, there was another knock at Byleth’s door. The knock was a little unnecessary for privacy purposes, as Catherine had failed to shut the door behind her. Instead, it was simply to get their attention.

Standing in the doorway were two students Byleth had never seen before.

The girl had short auburn hair and sharp eyes of the same color. Her lips were drawn into a thin line as she stared directly at Byleth. She wore an oversized orange athletic tee that had been cropped just below her ribs. Her black shorts hung low on her waist, the weight of her phone in the pocket dragging them down. She stood fully in the doorway with a sort of deer in the headlights look that confused Byleth more than anything, because as far as she could tell this girl is one who had just knocked.

The young man beside her was hidden slightly by the door frame. His red hair was tousled in a way that was probably meant to look effortless. He boasted an easy smile that rang a few warning bells in the back of Byleth’s mind. He wore a silver tank top with “ _ GMU Athletics _ ” emblazoned across the front of green lettering. His green shorts mirrored the tank top with silver streaks down the side.

“Hello,” Byleth said, trying to not sound as confused as she felt. “Is there something I can help you two with?”

“Are you Professor Eisner?” The girl asked. It was said like an accusation.

“I am… who’s asking?” Byleth asked curiously.

“I told you it wasn’t Jeralt,” the boy hissed at the girl. Whether he intended for Byleth to hear it or not, she wasn’t sure.

“I thought Jeralt was going to be working here this semester,” the girl explained. “I was hoping to stop in and say hi.”

Byleth forced a smile. “Nope, sorry. My dad is far too comfortable in his retirement to come back here.”

The girl’s eyes went wide. “Wait.  _ You’re _ his daughter.”

Byleth cocked her head to the side at her. “Is… is that supposed to be an insult?”

The girl paled visibly. “No, no, I’m sorry. I just… you look nothing like him.”

Byleth let out a surprised laugh. “Yeah, I get that a lot.” She stood from her desk and gestured for both students to come in. “You wanna come in?”

“Sure!” The boy said emphatically, and he strode into the room with a boastful grin.

Byleth glanced at Catherine. She was holding back a laugh, so Byleth knew this would be an interesting encounter. Catherine stood abruptly, offering the weakest of excuses to leave before this actually began. Also not a good sign for whatever she was about to get herself into.

Byleth reached across the desk to shake both of the students’ hands.

“I’m Professor Eisner, though it seems you already figured that much out,” Byleth said.

“Sylvain Jose Gautier,” the boy said, his grin still not reaching his copper eyes.

Byleth fought the urge to scowl. “Using our full name, are we?”

“Gotta make a good first impression, right?”

Byleth ignored that comment entirely and turned to the girl.

“Leonie Pinelli,” the girl said. Her grip was unnecessarily strong. Like she was testing Byleth almost. “You’re stronger than you look,” she conceded as she released Byleth’s hand.

Byleth nodded in response. “Back at you.” She gestured to the two chairs in her office. “Have a seat.”

Sylvain sat down before she even finished the question. He leaned back in the chair, stretching his arm out across the back of the other chair before Leonie sat down as well. Byleth tried to disguise the apprehension rising in her gut as she sat down behind her desk again. She made a conscious effort to keep her body language open, leaning back slightly in her chair.

“So, how do you know my dad?” Byleth asked Leonie. It seemed the only topic of conversation she could offer to avoid Sylvain’s leering gaze.

The girl’s eyes lit up at the mention of Byleth’s dad. She no longer seemed so adversarial, thankfully. “Oh, Jeralt came to my school when I was a kid. He gave a presentation on why science was important, especially for young girls. He picked me out of the crowd to help him with the Elephant’s Toothpaste Experiment.”

Byleth smiled fondly at the memory of that exact experiment. “That’s how he convinced me science was fun, too. I actually used to go on those trips with him. Until I was too old to be taken out of school anymore.”

“That’s… actually really cool,” Leonie admitted. It almost sounded like she was going to start an argument with Byleth a bit at the start, but the adversarial tone fell away pretty quickly. “I went to his science camp for three summers in a row. He’s kind of the whole reason I’m here.”

“He was actually considering coming by for Parents Weekend this year. I’m sure he’d be happy to see you, too. I could… tell him you’re here if you want?” Byleth honestly wasn’t sure if he’d remember the young woman. There were a lot of kids that went to those camps and even more who attended his presentations. But she could at least give him the heads up about her before he showed up and had no idea who the girl was.

Leonie’s eyes went wide at that. “Really? You’d do that?”

“I mean, sure. I’m sure he could use another reason to come. Don’t get me wrong, he’s happy to see me, but there’s a reason he left.”

That statement piqued Sylvain’s interest and he finally stopped giving Byleth  _ the eyes _ . He leaned forward. “What reason is that?”

Byleth gave him a sideway glance. “Not sure. I just know he wasn’t too thrilled about me working here.”

Sylvain leaned back into his chair with a huff. “That’s disappointing.”

“But he was so involved in the science department and everything,” Leonie said. “He’s basically the reason we’re known for our science programs. Why wouldn’t he be happy that you’re working here?”

Byleth shrugged. “Your guess is as good as mine.”

“Is that why you attended Remire and not GMU?” Sylvain asked.

Byleth narrowed her gaze at him again. “How do you know I went to Remire?”

“I’m friends with Dorothea,” he explained.

_ So that’s it _ . “Ah, that makes sense.” She nods to herself mostly. “But no, I went to Remire University cause it was closer to home and it was cheaper.”

“I thought the faculty’s kids get to attend for free?” Leonie asked.

“They do. But only if the faculty still work here when their kid goes here. My dad left over twenty years ago. Long before my parents were even thinking of my college career.” Byleth shrugged. “Honestly, I don’t mind. Remire University was great. And now that I work here, I’d say I’m doing pretty well for myself.”

“I’ll say,” Sylvain agreed.

Byleth crossed her arms and arched a brow at the two students curiously. Her gaze darted between them. “Did you two really come here to make sure I wasn’t my dad?”

A flush spread across Leonie’s cheeks. “I thought Sylvain was messing with me.”

“Why would I lie about this?” Sylvain asked her defensively.

“I don’t know, because you lie all the time just to get a rise out of me,” Leonie countered, the blush already fading.

“Like when?”

“Like this morning when you said archery was cancelled for the week because Shamir was sick.”

Sylvain leaned his head back to laugh at himself. “Oh, right.” He turned to her quickly, attempting to save face in front of Byleth. “But I wouldn’t lie about this. You would be so pissed at me if I knew Jeralt wasn’t actually working here and didn’t tell you.”

“I’m pissed at you now!”

“Right, but imagine how pissed you’d be if I just kept it from you.”

Byleth reclined in her chair, paying hardly any attention as the two of them devolved into playful fighting.

Somewhere around an hour later, the two of them finally left her office. Leonie apologized profusely, not only for barging in but for bringing Sylvain with her. Sylvain asked Byleth for her first name as well as her age. At that, she said goodbye to both of them and shut the door on Sylvain’s follow up question. She returned to her desk and her unfinished episode of  _ Glow _ . She sent a text off to her father about Leonie and the softball league.

As she settled into the second season of  _ Glow _ , she wondered what else she might learn about her father while working here. More than that, she wondered what the hell she’d gotten herself into by accepting the offer from Rhea.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thoughts?


	5. (Claude)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “What do you want?” She finally asked. Her apprehension didn’t stop her from accepting the gift, naturally.
> 
> Claude gasped. “Do you mean to tell me I can’t bring a dear friend a gift without an ulterior motive?”
> 
> “You don’t do anything without an ulterior motive.”
> 
> “Let’s not be slanderous here, Flayn. I very frequently do nice things out of the kindness of my heart.” He glanced off to the side with a shrug. “And I also do other things simply because I can.”

Flayn, as per usual, was absorbed in whatever was on her computer screen. She did an excellent job of making it look like she was doing work, but Claude knew better. Chances were good she was watching some DIY YouTube channel or maybe reading a fishing blog. But based on the way her eyes flitted from the two screens in front of her every two seconds, Claude was willing to bet she was actually playing a game. Probably something like ‘ _A Dark Room_ ’ or one of those other browser-text-based games.

“Good afternoon, Flayn!” Claude proclaimed loudly as he dropped the wrapped package on her desk.

She nearly jumped out of her seat. Once her green eyes connected with his, they narrowed angrily, a red flush across her cheeks now. “Dangit, Claude!” She still refused to swear no matter what Claude did to break that habit. “Don’t _do_ that!”

“Oh, my bad,” Claude said reaching a hand forward. He grabbed the parcel off her desk and shrugged. “I guess you don’t want the gift I brought you.”

Her eyes zeroed in on the package. Claude wasn’t exactly what you would call an expert wrapper. He was barely a novice. But he was pretty proud of this one. He managed to use old plastic wrapping he’d been saving around his and Lorenz’s apartment to conceal the package. And with a handy use of some leftover ribbon from Hilda’s birthday party, it almost looked like a real gift.

“It looks like literal garbage,” Flayn said bluntly.

Claude lifted a finger to her. “It only _looks_ like garbage. I can assure you its contents are far from anything resembling trash.”

Flayn’s eyes flashed to his. Her brow knit as she stared him down. He simply extended the gift out to her again and wagged his eyebrows at her. He bore an easy smile that he knew she never trusted fully. But he could see the curiosity eating away at her resolve.

“What do you want?” She finally asked. Her apprehension didn’t stop her from accepting the gift, naturally.

Claude gasped. “Do you mean to tell me I can’t bring a dear friend a gift without an ulterior motive?”

“You don’t do _anything_ without an ulterior motive.”

“Let’s not be slanderous here, Flayn. I very frequently do nice things out of the kindness of my heart.” He glanced off to the side with a shrug. “And I also do other things simply because I can.”

Flayn rolled her eyes at him, but she still opened the package. “Are you telling me you don’t want something?” Her eyes went wide when the plastic shell fell away to reveal the treasure within. Swedish Fish. Her favorite. Her gaze narrowed immediately and she arched a brow at Claude. Despite her attempt to seem suspicious, the smile forming on her lips was evidence enough that she didn’t care. Not really. “Especially when you give me this.”

“Maybe I just wanted to be nice.”

“You wouldn’t be dodging the question this much if that were the case.”

She ripped the bag open, immediately downing a few of the red candies with a satisfied grin. She forced a suspicious scowl onto her face, placing the bag down on her desk. She crossed her arms to wait for an answer.

Claude let out a defeated sigh. “I was hoping you could sweet talk daddy dearest for me. Help me get an extension on my senior project.”

Flayn’s expression fell. “Claude. School _just_ started. It’s literally been two days. How could you possibly know you already need an extension?”

“That is an excellent question with a very interesting and riveting answer that--”

Flayn cut him off before he could finish his well crafted response that should shut down any further questioning. “You’re not going to tell me, are you?”

“No, no I am not.”

Flayn rolled her eyes. “Talk to him yourself, Claude. If I try and talk you up, he’s gonna know you’re scheming again.”

“I can assure you that I am not scheming this time.”

Flayn grabbed the Swedish Fish bag from her desk and lifted it to his eye level. “Is that why you’re bribing me?”

“Are you saying you don’t want the Swedish Fish, then? Because I can find someone who actually enjoys my gifts and doesn’t question them.”

Flayn pulled the bag back just as Claude reached for it. She held a hand to his face. “I never said that.”

“So will you talk to Seteth for me?” Claude asked.

“No. There is a way to do these things, and I am not going to break those rules simply because you bring me some candy.”

Claude leaned his head back with an audible groan. “Ugh, fine!” He leaned against Flayn’s desk, holding his chin in his hand. “Then could you at least tell me how old you are? Or maybe where your from? Oh, how about your mother’s name?”

“Claude!” Flayn chided. “Did you really just bring me Swedish Fish to try and weasel some more information about me and my father?”

Claude shrugged, glancing off to the side. “I mean…”

“So this has nothing to do with an extension on your senior project?”

“No, of course not,” Claude chuckled. “Flayn, it’s been two days.”

She fought the smile tugging at her lips as she narrowed her eyes at him once more. “You are insufferable.”

Claude winked. “Worth a shot, right?”

“It is most certainly not,” Flayn grumbled, though she grabbed a few more pieces of candy. “This is going to continue all semester isn’t it?”

“Not unless you answer my questions, it’s not.”

“Then I suppose we shall be seeing more of each other than usual this semester.”

Claude chuckled to himself. “I suppose we shall.”

He leaned off her desk and took a step away. Before wandering off to Myrddin Hall to meet up with Hilda and Marianne, he checked his phone. He wanted to make sure they were actually out of class before he went over there and had to wait for them. Again. He’d probably still have to wait for them anyway. Hilda always found an excuse to drag Marianne off to some hidden corner of some building to make out in between classes. The three of them chose to pretend that Claude had no idea. Claude really only kept up the ruse because Hilda’s excuses for their lateness were getting more and more hilarious as time went on.

They had just gotten out of class, so it would be another twenty minutes before they made it to Myrddin. At best. It would take Claude ten minutes to get there. Just enough time to nab a booth and scout out what specials were available before they arrived.

As he turned to leave, something caught his eye. Or rather someone.

Just coming out of one of the offices was a young woman Claude had never seen before. Which was concerning as he made it a point to know everyone in the science department. Even the freshman.

This young woman was a complete unknown. She looked vaguely around his own age. She dressed like a student, but slightly nicer than normal. Maybe a grad student?

She wore faded black jeans that were cuffed at the ankle to show off her assumedly expensive sneakers. The white tee she wore bore the name of what Claude assumed was a band: _The Wyvern Riders_. The navy blazer she wore over it gave her an air of professionalism only moderately undercut by the band tee. She had thick blue hair pulled back into a high ponytail, loose strands hung down her neck with several flyaways framing her face.

“Who’s that?” Claude asked before he meant to.

“Hmm?” Flayn responded, once again distracted by whatever was on her computer.

Without looking back at Flayn, Claude gestured to the woman wordlessly.

“Oh, that’s Professor Eisner. The new physics professor.”

Claude turned to Flayn. “We have a new physics professor?”

Flayn snorted. “Have you been living under a rock? That’s the only thing any of you seniors have been able to talk about for _weeks_.”

Claude narrowed his gaze at her. “What? Why? She’s probably just teaching prereqs or something. Why would any of us care?”

She laughed. “Because she’s teaching the physics capstone class.”

His eyes went wide with excitement. “No.”

Flayn nodded. “Yeah. Took it over from my father. He needed the break, though. This year’s seniors are a lot.”

Claude stole another glance at the new professor. Professor Eisner was locking up what must be her office while checking her phone absent-mindedly. While she looked like a student, it was possible that in certain circumstances she might actually look like a real professor. Maybe.

“She looks a little young to be a professor, don’t you think?” He asked Flayn.

“Well, she’s already got her Master’s, so she’s older than you, at least.”

Claude straightened his back and put on his best smile. “I’m gonna go introduce myself.”

Flayn snickered behind him. “This I gotta see.”

Claude ignored her comment and strode off toward the new professor. He might be late to meet Marianne and Hilda now, but it would be totally worth it to tell them about the new prof. Hopefully, if this went well, he’d have more info on her than any of the other students did. Even the physics majors.

Just as he came close enough to say something without seeming like he was shouting across the room, the professor lifted her eyes to him. Upon seeing her face fully, he was struck by how familiar she looked. Claude can’t say he’d ever known anyone with blue hair - that’s something that would definitely stick in his memory - but he couldn’t shake the feeling that he’d met this woman before. Ignoring that, he forced another smile to his face.

“Hi, are you Professor Eisner?” He asked.

A soft smile reached her face and she straightened her back. She slid her phone into her back pocket and nodded. “That I am. And you are?” she asked, extending her hand forward.

Claude shook her hand, noting just how strong her grip was. Her hand was a little calloused as well, certainly not what he’d expected. _Intriguing_. “Claude von Riegan. I’m one of Hanneman’s little misfits.”

“Ah,” she said with a nod and a knowing smile. “Are you all on first name bases with your professors?”

“Only the ones who try to be cool,” he said bluntly. He flashed another smile at her. “I just thought I’d introduce myself. It’s not very often we hire new professors and immediately give them 400-level courses.”

The professor quirked a brow at him, a playful smile taking over her features. “We? I didn’t realize you were in on the hiring process.”

“You know, when you get to know everyone in the science department as well as I have, it definitely feels like it.”

She crossed her arms over her chest letting out a soft chuckle. “Wow, you really are a nosy bunch, aren’t you?”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Claude asked, matching her playful tone.

“You are the… sixth person to stop by today who isn’t one of my students to just ‘ _introduce yourself_ ’.” She made a show of counting off on her fingers for how many students came by to say hello. “But really, you all just came by to find out information about me. Right?”

Claude’s smile deepened. “You are very perceptive.”

“It’s a gift,” she answered.

Claude’s nose crinkled and he looked the professor up and down once over. “Have we… met before? You look incredibly familiar.”

It was her turn to take a step back and take in Claude’s image. Her brow knit and her jaw shifted. Eventually she shook her head. “No, I don’t believe we have.” Her blue eyes reconnected with his. “Pretty sure I’d remember you.”

Claude arched a brow. “Is that a good thing or a bad thing?”

“I suppose we’ll find out. Lovely meeting you, Claude.”

With a wave and another soft smile, she walked away.

Claude stood there a few moments longer, trying to ignore the laughter he could hear coming from Flayn behind him. He fished around in his pocket for his phone. He barely looked at the screen before dialing Hilda’s number. It rang twice before she answered.

“Claude, _what_?!” she was slightly breathless, so Claude could hazard a guess as to what she was just doing.

“What do you know about the new physics professor?” He asked.

“You’re calling me for _this_? You can’t just wait until lunch like a normal person?”

“You’re avoiding the question.”

“I’ll tell you when I see you at Myrddin.”

“But--”

“I’m hanging up now!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thoughts?


	6. (Dimitri)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Come on, man. I promise I won’t go running off with some girl tonight.” Sylvain paused intentionally. He glanced off to the side and shrugged dramatically. “Unless, of course, you did first.”
> 
> Dimitri scowled. “Sylvain.”
> 
> “Okay, fine! I will stay with you the whole night. Satisfied?”
> 
> Wordlessly, Dimitri spun around in his chair once more to return to the lab he was writing up. “Yeah, I’m not going.”
> 
> “Edelgard will be there!”

The door to Dimitri’s room was left slightly open, as it often was. But today, as he heard Sylvain and Felix making their way to his door, he had wished he’d let it swing shut behind him after he made it back from his lab.

“He’s not going to come, let’s just go without him,” Felix grumbled.

“He’s coming,” Sylvain hissed back. “Whether I have to drag him there or not.”

Felix scoffed derisively. “Right, like you could actually do that.”

“He’s not _that_ strong.”

“When you get another black eye trying to drag him to another party, I’m not going to help you smooth things over with your coach again.”

“Shut up!” Sylvain whisper-shouted at Felix now that he’d arrived just outside Dimitri’s door.

Dimitri pretended he hadn’t heard them and didn’t know exactly what they were gonna ask. He didn’t even lift his head when he heard Sylvain knocking. He just straightened his back a little. He glanced at his computer display to see that it was just after 10:00pm. Early for Sylvain.

“What do you want, Sylvain?” Dimitri asked, trying to sound irritated.

“Okay, rude,” Sylvain answered.

He didn’t wait for an invitation, as per usual, before striding into Dimitri’s room. Honestly, it was a wonder he knocked anymore.

Dimitri slowly spun his desk chair around to stare blankly at Sylvain. The older boy stood in the doorway, illuminated by the light in their living room. He was dressed for a party, alright. He wore a navy and silver floral button down; he left the top few buttons open for everyone to see his defined chest. The sleeves were rolled up past his elbows so he could flaunt his forearms as well. Dimitri could smell his cologne all the way from here, smoky and a bit too synthetic. His white washed jeans had rips at the knees in an attempt to look relaxed. Even his shoes boasted an air of calculated casualness.

Sylvain’s copper eyes zeroed in on Dimitri’s rubber ducky socks. “What are you wearing?” He sounded more disappointed than anything.

“Pajamas,” Dimitri said coolly. “The hell are you wearing?”

“Clothing. Like a normal person. Come on. We’re going out.”

Dimitri scoffed. “You might be. But I’ve got class tomorrow.”

“So do I, but it’s Thursday. The first Thursday of our senior year, _by the way_.”

“Your point?” Dimitri asked.

“I told you he wouldn’t come,” Felix called from elsewhere in their apartment. He was close enough to eavesdrop, but still far enough to warrant the shout.

Sylvain drew his lips into a tight, thin line. He put his hands together in front of his face and stepped toward Dimitri. “Look, Dimitri. This is probably the only night I can go out all semester. Between practice, games, and the frat I’m not gonna have the time to go out much until the spring.” He lifted one finger into the air. “I just wanted one night out with you, Ingrid, and Felix. Just one.”

Dimitri cocked his head at Sylvain. “What you want is one night where you can hopefully rely on one of us to act as your wingman without running off. And while Ingrid is off with Dorothea and Felix is pretending not to know us, you’re hoping I’ll hang back and help you out. Out of pity.”

Dimitri could just barely hear Felix chuckling.

“Come on, man. I promise I won’t go running off with some girl tonight.” Sylvain paused intentionally. He glanced off to the side and shrugged dramatically. “Unless, of course, you did first.”

Dimitri scowled. “Sylvain.”

“Okay, _fine_! I will stay with you the whole night. Satisfied?”

Wordlessly, Dimitri spun around in his chair once more to return to the lab he was writing up. “Yeah, I’m not going.”

“Edelgard will be there!”

Dimitri’s fingers froze over his keyboard. His stomach twisted itself into a knot immediately.

He hadn’t seen Edelgard since last semester. Since the last party they went to together. Nothing happened at that party, not between them at least. Nothing ever happened between them. Nothing would ever happen between them. They were practically siblings. But… that didn’t mean his stomach didn’t twist painfully whenever he thought of her. Or that he couldn’t pinpoint her laugh in any crowd. Or that he didn’t know what her favorite dessert was (peach sorbet).

“But she’s in season?” was all Dimitri could think to ask.

He hated the smugness in Sylvain’s voice as he answered. “Their first game isn’t for a few weeks. She always goes out the first weekend of school.”

Dimitri bit his lip and rocked back in his chair. After a few moments, he turned over his shoulder. “Who else will be there?”

* * *

 _I should’ve stayed home_.

That was all Dimitri could think on his walk over to the soccer house. He had a lab to write up (it wasn’t due until next week, but still). Then he had homework to finish up before tomorrow afternoon (he, of course, could do it at lunch tomorrow, but why should he have to rush?). He desperately needed to rework his resume before next semester (sure, he could do that on the weekend too if he had to). And then he had MCAT’s to prepare for (can never be too early). And to top it all off, he still needed to get to sleep; something he knew wouldn’t happen until much later if Sylvain was true to his word about sticking together all night.

Even walking into the house, he wished he was back at his apartment. Doing all those things he said that he still had to do tonight. Or, you know, maybe tomorrow.

Instead, here he was on the fleeting hope that Edelgard would spare him a passing glance. Or better yet, actually talk to him. About things other than school, that is. Things between them hadn’t been the same since his dad and her mom. He was the only one who ever seemed bothered by it.

Immediately upon entering the soccer house, they were greeted by Caspar and Linhardt. Linhardt, for his part, looked about as enthused as Dimitri felt to be at this party.

“Oh my god! You guys made it!” Caspar shouted excitedly. He stepped to the side giving Dimitri, Felix, and Sylvain access to the rest of the house. He pointed past a group of freshmen having a chugging contest. “We’ve got a keg out back. I think the girl’s team brought some vodka. You’ll have to talk to Petra if you want any. Snacks are in the kitchen. If there’s anything left.”

“Sweet, thanks, man,” Sylvain said, giving Caspar a fistbump.

Felix barely even acknowledged Caspar before walking in. Dimitir clapped the all-too-drunk Caspar on the shoulder, the force of it knocking him into Linhardt, before walking into the rest of the house.

Sylvain led Dimitri and Felix past the group of freshmen, through the kitchen, and out back straight to the keg. Or more accurately to the group of their friends who had circled around it.

Mercedes was the first to greet them as they walked over. She already had two drinks ready when they arrived. Felix took the first before stalking off to who knows where. Sylvain graciously accepted the second with a wink.

“I’d have had another drink ready, but…” Mercedes’s voice trailed off as her eyes fell back to the keg.

Supported by Raphael and Dedue, Claude was actively doing a keg stand. Hilda, Petra, and Annette were cheering him on, as if he needed the encouragement. Marianne, Ignatz, and Ashe stood off to the side looking on in horror; the only indication that he’d probably been at it for far too long.

“It’s alright. I don’t mind waiting,” Dimitri said.

He let his eyes wander over the rest of the party. There were a lot of people here he didn’t know outside their group of friends. The soccer house always drew an interesting crowd to their parties. Everyone from the science department to the liberal arts students to even some TA’s (like Mercedes) showed up. One time Bernadetta even swung by. That night will forever go down in the history books as the weirdest party Dimitri ever went to.

“Is Ingrid here?” Dimitri asked no one in particular.

Sylvain snickered at his side, hiding his smirk behind his solo cup. “You mean _Edelgard_?”

Dimitri shot him an accusing look.

Sylvain wasn’t wrong, of course. Dimitri was looking for Edelgard. Not because he thought anything would happen. But more to make sure nothing would happen with someone else. And he knew she was coming with Dorothea and Ingrid. So if Ingrid were already here, then Edelgard would be too.

“I think Ingrid mentioned something about going to a bar first,” Claude had suddenly appeared at Dimitri’s side.

His sudden appearance caused both Sylvain and Dimitri to jump. Sylvain nearly dropped his drink.

“Jesus!” Sylvain exclaimed.

“Not quite. I’m Claude, actually.”

Sylvain chose to ignore the joke entirely. “How do you _do_ that?”

With an evil glint in his eye and over the top jazz hands, Claude answered, “Magic.”

Dimitri only felt his scowl deepening. “I’m gonna need a drink.”

“Here you go,” Mercedes said very calmly.

Glancing her way, he saw she held another full solo cup. She somehow managed to reach the keg and fill another cup before Dimitri fully processed it was free again.

“Thank you,” he said sincerely as he took the plastic cup from her.

“Don’t mention it,” Mercedes answered, her warm smile ebbing into her voice.

Beer wasn’t exactly Dimitri’s favorite way to get drunk, but it was the easiest option. And one of the cheaper ones. Whatever beer was in this keg was exceptionally bland. Which meant it went down a little too easily. It was practically water.

“You know, it’s always weird seeing you at these,” Dimitri admitted to Mercedes, actively ignoring Claude and Sylvain now.

“How so?” she asked.

“I mean, you’re Manuela’s TA. You’ve basically been the one teaching us for the past four years.”

She nodded. “And for the past four years, we’ve been going to parties together. You’re going to have to get over it one of these days.”

“He’d have to actually start coming to parties to get over it,” someone else cut in.

Dimitri didn’t have to turn around to know who it was. The little flutter in his chest was evidence enough as to who it was. But of course, as per usual, he turned around to face her fully.

Edelgard stood separate from Ingrid and Dorothea, directly in front of Dimitri now. She looked amazing.

Her long brown hair was pulled back into an effortless braid. She wore high-waisted, cut-off denim shorts. The belt she sported was for show mostly, but the golden buckle and trim down the length of the leather was a nice touch. She wore a simple white tee underneath a red leather jacket. Her black combat boots were folded down at the ankle to reveal the red flannel pattern on the interior. She was wearing a gold necklace that threatened to dip below her shirt, a golden eagle hung from the end of it.

“El,” he said before he meant to. Her face scrunched up at the childhood nickname and Dimitri hastened to correct himself. “Hi, Edelgard. I uh… I didn’t know you were gonna be here tonight.”

Edelgard quirked a brow up at him, crossing her arms over her chest. “You mean to tell me you actually wanted to come to this? You? Dimitri Alexandre Blayddid? At a party on a school night?”

He shrugged. “Here I am.”

Edelgard narrowed her eyes at him. “Sylvain dragged you out here. Didn’t he?”

Dimitri cocked his head to the side. “Drag is a bit of a strong word.”

She chuckled softly. Her soft lilac eyes raked over his body before returning to his eyes. Actually, they jumped up to his hairline. Her lips pursed into a thin line and she stepped toward him, her eyes focused on what he hoped was his hair and not some pimple hiding out on his forehead where he couldn’t see it. She wordlessly reached a hand up to his head. He found himself bending forward slightly so she could reach. Her fingers slid into his blond hair, ruffling the locks up a bit.

“You need a haircut,” she said. She mussed up his hair a bit more before crossing her arms and taking a step back. “How can you even see with your hair in your face like that?”

Dimitri chuckled uncomfortably. He needed to ignore the rising heat in his gut or the way he desperately wanted her to do that again. “Oh you know, I just learn to ignore the hair.”

She scoffed with a shake of her head. “Well, you should still get a haircut.”

“Edelgard!”

Edelgard’s attention was ripped away from Dimitri. Without her lilac eyes on him, he felt his shoulders sag and his head droop.

Petra came rushing into view. She stopped just in front of Edelgard holding a massive handle of vodka in one hand. She didn’t stop, so much as crash right into Edelgard, relying on the much smaller girl to stay aloft. “We are getting shot!”

Edelgard effortlessly held Petra up. “We’re what?”

“She means we’re taking shots.” Dorothea walked over and put a hand to Petra’s defined bicep. She flashed a knowing smile to Dimitri. “You want one, Dimitri? Looks like you could use it.”

Dimitri’s ears burned. “No, I’m good.” He lifted his cup, some beer sloshing over the edge. “I’ll stick to beer.”

“Alright, we’ll see you later, Dimitri,” Edelgard laughed.

She barely even looked his way before helping Petra over to another part of the backyard where they could all take shots. Dimitri’s skin was a lot less flush than it was a moment ago. His forehead, in particular, felt unfairly cold without her touch.

Sylvain sidled up alongside Dimitri with the most shit-eating grin Dimitri had ever seen. He sipped quietly on his drink, just eyeing Dimitri silently.

“Shut up,” Dimitri grumbled.

He brushed past Sylvain who called after him, “I didn’t even say anything.”

* * *

The rest of the night went by in a blur of far too much beer and maybe dancing...? Dimitri’s not sure. There was music playing, but he didn’t remember there being a dancefloor. Not that that would stop any of them.

Somewhere around midnight, Dorothea and Ingrid disappeared for about an hour. They came back with several pizzas and with Felix in tow, oddly enough. No one even questioned their absence (not that they weren’t all aware of what really happened). Marianne and Hilda were far less subtle, outright making out in the middle of the living room after the freshmen left. Claude and Petra passed out on the couch together in a rather compromising position. But other than that, they all just kinda hung out together until everyone began to sober up. Even Sylvain stuck around, like he promised.

It wasn’t until maybe five in the morning that Dimitri, Sylvain, and Felix left for their apartment (after Dimitri found out Edelgard made it back to her dorm safely, of course). They only lived two blocks over and had walked over the night before. So it wasn’t like they needed to wait to sober up enough to drive home. Felix just didn’t want to leave. Not once Dorothea, Ferdinand, Annette, Lorenz, and Hilda started singing around the fire out back. He never wanted to leave once that started. And it started at _every_ party.

Their walk back to their apartment was spent mostly in silence. Dimitri felt like he was still drunk and hungover at the same time. From Felix’s grumbled steps, he was probably in the same boat. It was only Sylvain who seemed unaffected from the night’s activities. But he still stayed silent regardless.

Just as they rounded the corner to their street, a distinctly feminine figure cut them off at a high speed. Whoever it was called out an apology as she ran past.

Dimitri swore audibly and took a step back almost into Felix. Felix grumbled indistinctly in response, already pushing Dimitri back forward. He wanted to yell at Felix for it, but he was too damn tired.

“Professor Eisner?” Sylvain’s perplexed question was practically shouted into the cool morning air.

When Dimitri turned forward again, he saw the figure had stopped about ten paces away, halfway into the crosswalk. The woman’s breath wasn’t even close to being heavy despite how fast she had just run past them. There was a sheen of sweat coating her skin, but other than that there was no clear evidence of any sort of exertion on her body.

She wore soft athletic shorts over a pair of navy spandex. She had a dark gray tank top on made of a slick material that let sweat easily wick off of it. Her navy sports bra could be seen just underneath it as the tank top hung very loosely on her shoulders. She sported well worn running shoes, the laces looked like they were completely frayed. Oddest of all was that she had bright blue hair. The thick locks were trapped at the back of her head in a long ponytail.

“Sylvain?” She said in reply. Curiosity evident in her voice and face.

She backtracked to the sidewalk they stood on. Not that she was in any danger of being hit by a car or anything. Not in this sleepy town.

Now that she was closer to the three of them, she finally had a good look at what awful shape they were in.

“Do you live nearby?” Sylvain asked.

“I did move to the area when I got the job, yes,” the young woman who - did Sylvain just call her ‘ _professor_ ’? - answered vaguely.

“Do you always go for a run before the sun wakes up?” Sylvain asked curiously.

“Are you always out drinking until the sun wakes up?” she returned.

“Drinking?” Sylvain balked. “Who said we were drinking?”

The woman chuckled half-heartedly. “Sure, we can pretend that’s not what you were doing.”

“You teaching any classes later?” Sylvain asked. “Maybe we could get lunch.”

Felix stalked off to their apartment at that, not wanting to stick around and wait to see this outcome. He never was too enthused about Sylvain flirting with everyone he came across. As he walked past Sylvain, he made a point to bump into him, jostling the taller boy forward a few steps.

The woman crossed her arms, but made no move to walk away just yet. She instead lifted her head higher and leveled a stern gaze at Sylvain. “I think you ought to stick to chasing freshmen girls at Frat parties, Mr. Gautier.”

Sylvain laughed uncertainly. “What? It’s just lunch.”

“Sure it is.” She put an ear bud in her ear that Dimitri hadn’t noticed she’d taken out before. Her blue eyes darted around Sylvain to Dimitri. He straightened his back out reflexively, trying to look more sober and responsible than he felt. “You might want to make sure he sleeps off whatever this is,” she said, gesturing at all of Sylvain.

“If only it worked like that,” Dimitri answered.

She smiled half-heartedly before turning around to finish out her run.

Dimitri stepped forward and clapped Sylvain on the back. He gripped his shoulder hard and steered him back toward the apartment.

“Ow, ow, _ow_ ,” Sylvain complained all the way to the door.

“Did you just _flirt_ with the new physics professor?” Dimitri asked incredulously.

“... Maybe?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thoughts?


	7. (Byleth)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “You and Shamir. You’re dating. Right?”
> 
> “No, we’re not… no.”
> 
> Byleth arched a brow at her quizzically. “But you are… a thing?”
> 
> Catherine sighed. She regripped the steering wheel and started racing again. “It’s complicated, Byleth.” Her voice was softer than it was earlier.
> 
> “Doesn’t have to be.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> comes say hi over on twitter and instagram (@bridgetserdock)

“How is the semester going? Are the students respectful? Are you doing a good job? Are you transitioning well?”

“It’s been a week, Dad,” Byleth said through a strained laugh. “A little early to tell how well things are going.”

“I used to be able to tell on day one if the semester was going to go smoothly or not,” Jeralt boasted over the phone.

“Yeah, well, you were also a professor for like _ever_. I just started.”

“I suppose you make a good point,” Jeralt conceded.

Byleth shook her head at her father, not that he could see it over the phone. “So should I mentally prepare for you coming around to visit during Parents Week? Or am I gonna have to break it to Alois that you just don’t like him anymore?”

Jeralt’s hearty laugh brought a smile to Byleth’s face. She could basically see him tossing his overly large head back at that, his barrel chest rumbling with laughter. “No, I’ll be there. Gotta make sure you don’t tarnish my legacy.”

“How considerate,” Byleth muses.

“Besides, you did promise Leonie I would stop by, didn’t you?”

“I promised to ask you to come,” she clarified. “And honestly, I’m surprised you even remember her. There were so many kids at those camps of yours.”

“Leonie’s hard to forget. She got into so many fights at those camps.”

“Seriously?” Byleth asked incredulously.

“Oh yeah. She wasn’t a fan of bullies. And at a nerdy science camp like the one I ran, there were a surprising amount of them. She kept them all in check.”

“And you didn’t kick her out of the camp? I feel like the parents would’ve been pissed if there was one kid starting all the fights.”

Jeralt chuckled. “Yeah, they were none too happy. But what can I say? I’ve always had a soft spot for little trouble makers.”

Byleth rolled her eyes with a groan. “Dad!”

He laughed in response. “Okay, okay, but seriously, how are you transitioning? I’m sure this is a lot less exciting than being _The Ashen Demon_.”

Byleth scowled. She was never particularly fond of that nickname. Of course she wasn’t the one who picked it.

“I’m fine,” Byleth answered flatly. “It’s an adjustment, but a needed one.”

There was a pause. “Are you sure you’re okay? I can come and visit before Parents Weekend if you want?”

“Yeah, I’m fine, Dad. I promise.”

Just then there was a knock at the door. Byleth’s eyes flicked to the open doorway to see Catherine leaning against the door frame yet again. She wore the brightest smile Byleth thinks she’d ever seen. Shamir flanked her with her arms crossed and a rather bored expression.

“Hey, I gotta go,” Byleth said to Jeralt.

“Everything alright?” He asked, concern staining his voice.

“Yeah, everything’s fine. I’ll call you tomorrow, alright?”

“Alright, Byleth. Bye. I love you.”

“Love you, too, Dad.”

She lowered the phone from her ear and placed it face down on her desk. She rocked back in her chair and crossed her arms. She arched a brow at the two professors still standing in her doorway.

“What’s up, guys?” She asked.

“We’re gonna go get drinks. You coming?” Shamir asked bluntly.

Byleth tried not to laugh. “Who’s we? Will I be some sort of third wheel here?”

Shamir barely reacted to the question. Catherine, on the other hand, went immediately beet red. She nearly fell as she tried to lean away from the door frame.

“What? Pssh, no. A third wheel? Of course not. Why would you be a third wheel? It’s just drinks,” she said so fast it was like she didn’t even pause between each statement.

“It’s a tradition,” Shamir said, somehow completely unperturbed by Catherine’s spluttering. “After everyone’s first week, we all go out to drinks.”

“We as in…?” Byleth trailed off, waiting to find out who else would be going.

“The science department,” Shamir said.

“Even Rhea comes. You can’t say no. It’s a tradition. I think Jeralt started it, even.”

“He’s started a lot of traditions around here, hasn’t he?” Byleth murmured.

“He left quite the impact on this place,” Shamir answered.

Byleth glanced at the clock on her desk. It was just after 5:00pm. It was still a bit early to go get drinks, as far as she was concerned, but she didn’t exactly have any other plans. Which was a real shame for a Friday night.

She looked back to Catherine and Shamir. They weren’t exactly dressed to go out, Byleth thought. They were still wearing their athletic wear from their practices this afternoon. Byleth herself wasn’t exactly dressed up, either. She only wore a simple pair of black pants and a white long sleeve.

“Please tell me we can at least change before we go,” Byleth said after a time.

“Of course!” Catherine said emphatically.

“Obviously,” Shamir agreed; she glanced down at her own outfit as if that alone was reason enough.

Byleth let out a loud, exasperated sigh. “Ah, what the hell? But you guys owe me a drink.”

* * *

Catherine had insisted on picking up Byleth for the bar. Byleth pointed out that she was perfectly capable of driving, but there was no reasoning with Catherine. She was so adamant about it, saying that she’d promise to stay sober and would DD. There wasn’t much Byleth could do to argue against it.

And that’s how she ended up standing outside her apartment for about 15 minutes while she waited for Catherine to pull up.

Neither Catherine or Shamir were willing to offer up too much information about the bar, only that hardly any of the students actually went to it so the staff felt wholly comfortable getting drunk there without accidentally running into one of their students.

With the knowledge that there would be no students,Byleth thought for a moment she could dress a bit more comfortably. She didn’t have to try and make herself appear older than them anymore. But then she remembered Rhea would be there and thought better of it.

In the end, she put on a pair of faded black jeans that had pockets for days (they were easily her favorite pair of pants she’d ever owned for that fact alone), a light gray tank top, a worn green flannel which she tied off at her waist, and a pair of beige combat boots. She left her hair down, but brought a hair tie with her just in case.

She paced up and down in front of her apartment several times over while she waited. She checked her phone to see how much time had passed. Her patience was wearing thin and social media wasn’t helping. She was just about ready to turn tail and fake being sick when a maroon mustang came screeching to a halt at her sidewalk. Byleth’s eyes went wide as she saw Catherine’s beaming face smiling at her from the driver’s seat.

 _I am going to die_ , was all Byleth could think when Catherin hopped out of the car.

Catherine wore bleached jeans that were so tight Byleth wondered if they were actually leggings. The maroon shirt she wore matched the color of her car a little too closely. Her white leather jacket looked well-worn and there was a noticeable tear in the hem along the back. Her golden hair was pinned at the back of her head with a gold and white clip that was hard to make out.

Catherine’s brilliant blue eyes immediately went over Byleth’s shoulder. Her jaw hung open. “You live here?”

Byleth glanced over her own shoulder at the building she had walked out of.

It was one of the older houses in town, but it had clearly been renovated. And recently. There was a brand new roof and siding. The windows were replaced recently as well, not that you could see that much from the street; the landlord had told Byleth before she’d moved in. The front door had a key card activated entrance as did the gate. The garage had its own card activated gate off to the side from the main entrance. Just from a glance, it was easy to tell this was one of the more expensive residences in town. Not to speak for the interior.

“Yeah. It was in my budget, and I’d rather the added security,” Byleth answered.

Catherine’s look on incredulity only seemed to increase. “How much are we paying you?”

Byleth dipped her head and chuckled. “Not enough for this place.” She lifted her gaze to Catherine’s. The older woman had the opposite of a poker face. Just a single glance and you could tell exactly what she was thinking. It was refreshing. “I think I’ve mentioned before that my last job was more than a little bit lucrative.”

“You did, but I just didn’t realize by how much. Wow…” Catherine trailed off with a shake of her head. She couldn’t tear her eyes away from it.

“Should we… go?” Byleth asked.

Catherine blinked, coming back to reality now. “Right, yes. Let’s... go. Yeah.”

In a flash of movement, Catherine had the passenger door open for Byleth. She gestured over-dramatically for Byleth to climb in.

“M’lady,” Catherine said with a jaunty grin.

Byleth couldn’t help but smile back, even as she rolled her eyes. “Thank you.”

No sooner had her door shut were they barreling down the streets of Fodlan at an unseemly pace. It took all of her effort to not reach up and grab onto the “oh-shit-handle” as her father so affectionately called it when he was teaching her how to drive.

All the while, Catherine was rambling about who knows what. She started talking about the softball league and then somehow jumped over to the rugby team and then they were talking about puppies. Eventually they found their way back to the softball league and Shamir was brought up.

“I can’t let Shamir win this year,” Catherine said, not for the first time this car ride. “She’d never let me live it down. And I can’t _stand_ that smug look on her face.”

“So… are you two like a thing?” Byleth asked when she sensed a lull in Catherine’s ramblings.

Catherine’s face immediately went pink. She slowed down slightly, her fingers gripping the steering wheel tighter. “What?”

“You and Shamir. You’re dating. Right?”

“No, we’re not… no.”

Byleth arched a brow at her quizzically. “But you are… a thing?”

Catherine sighed. She regripped the steering wheel and started racing again. “It’s complicated, Byleth.” Her voice was softer than it was earlier.

“Doesn’t have to be.”

“We’re _coworkers_ ,” Catherine said, giving her a scathing glance.

“Colleagues, technically,” Byleth corrected. “And there’s nothing in the employee handbook that says you can’t date each other.”

Catherine stared through her windshield. The pink color slowly fading from her cheeks. “We know that… we just… we’re so _different_. It doesn’t always end well.”

“From what I’ve seen, it hasn’t ended. I’d say it’s only just begun.”

Catherine stole a glance over at Byleth. She narrowed her eyes at the new professor, something Byleth was becoming used to. “You pay more attention to people than you let on, huh?”

Byleth shrugged.

Catherine stared forward again, her lead foot a little lighter than when their drive started. “You’re not going to tell her about this, are you?”

“Of course not.”

“Good.”

Catherine wasted little time before jumping to the next topic of conversation, as if they hadn’t just addressed something incredibly personal and vulnerable. It didn’t take long after that - between Catherine’s speeding and her ability to cover a million topics in under a minute - to make it to the bar Shamir had mentioned earlier.

The Sealed Forest.

The bar was on the far side of town which is probably exactly why the students didn’t come here very often. But from one glance, Byleth couldn’t imagine why not. If there was a bar like this one at Remire University, she would’ve forgone any risks to come here. She’d have walked barefoot if she had to.

It was a renovated lumber mill. The front had two large barn doors that had been painted with a mural of a forest - probably the sort of forest that once stood in this fair town. Painted over the forest in golden lettering was the name of the bar. Since it was still technically summer, the barn doors were dragged open to let the cool night air in. There was one bar located outside facing the open lot beside the mill; on the lot were lawn games currently abandoned with the setting sun. There was already a sizable crowd milling about despite the early hour, and there was a band playing inside.

“Alright, this place is cool,” Byleth admitted as she and Catherine walked up to it.

“Wait until you get inside,” Catherine said emphatically.

Her enthusiasm was warranted, alright.

The interior of the bar was even more amazing. It was an open concept bar that was just one large room. The tables and chairs were all pushed to the walls of the mill, but because it was so damn _large_ , it wasn’t in the least bit crammed. There was enough room to host an entire wedding. There were another two bars within the mill, one on either side of the mill. At the far wall across from the entrance was the stage the band played upon. Directly in front of them was the center of the dancefloor, or rather the throng of people already dancing.

The lights overhead were these massive bulbs ensconced in wrought iron that harkened back to when this was still a functioning mill. The rafters were clearly visible from the ground behind the lights and gave the place an even more rustic feel. The ground was concrete and had a sleek glaze over the top of it. There was artwork and photography all around the walls of various forests from all around the world. Byleth recognized a few of the more iconic ones from her travels.

The bars themselves were topped with a thick butcher block; all three were finished with a dark stain and varnish. The stools in front of them looked to be hand carved from full on logs. Byleth could see from the nearest table that each one was crafted from reclaimed wood with blue polymer poured into the cracks. The chairs around them were crafted using more wrought iron and somehow the softest cushions Byleth had ever had the chance to sit on at a bar.

As Byleth walked into the bar open-mouthed, Alois found her and Catherine quickly.

“Byleth!” He exclaimed. He wrapped her up in his arms before she had the chance to register him calling her name. He spun her around in the air twice before setting her back down. “You made it!”

“Well, it is tradition apparently,” Byleth answered with a laugh. “I see you started without me.”

Alois waved her off with a scoff. “What? No. Of course not.” But based on the flush in his cheeks and the smell of some sweet sort of alcohol on his breath, she knew that was a lie. “Come on, let me buy you your first drink of the night.”

With a hand on her shoulder, he steered her over to the bar he must’ve come from. There, they met up with the rest of the science department who had turned up.

Shamir downed two shots the moment her eyes found Catherine, an act that Byleth wished she hadn’t noticed. Seteth and Rhea were both sipping on some red wine when Byleth walked over. Each embraced her and congratulated her on making it through the week. Jeritza barely acknowledged her, simply passing her some dark liquid she didn’t recognize. Manuela was the most exuberant and excited to see Byleth (after Alois, of course); she’d grabbed her by the shoulders and told her how proud she was. Byleth was not even the slightest bit sure as to what she was proud of, but she sure was proud. Hanneman was far more subdued, offering a simple handshake and a word of congratulations. Gilbert offered to buy the next round as way of congratulations.

Flayn and Cyril were there as well. Byleth wondered if either of them were even old enough to vote, let alone drink. But when the bartender handed them both shots without question, she figured it was better not to ask. It’s not like she looked particularly mature herself.

With her arrival, the night started fast. Within the first two hours, everyone had bought a round of shots (everyone but Byleth, that is, as Rhea pointed out she shouldn't have to; it’s tradition, you know?). Which meant within the first two hours, Byleth had taken eleven shots. By the fifth one, she was sure the others were passing theirs off to other patrons to make sure they remained mostly sober. She wished she could do the same, but with all of them watching her closely, she didn’t stand a chance at sneaking them away. Especially after that fifth shot.

After that, things slowed down a bit, and she was finally allowed to nurse the whiskey ginger that Alois bought her. At this point, it was barely 10:00pm, and Byleth was more than a little grateful they had started drinking as early as they had. If she’d waited much later, tomorrow morning she’d be in a world of hurt.

She was already in a world of hurt, truth be told. She shouldn’t have taken so many shots in such quick succession. But Catherine and Alois were so insistent. She hung back at the bar after the rest of the group wandered off to the dancefloor. She asked for water from the bartender before placing down the whiskey ginger she probably should not be attempting to drink.

“So how was your first week?”

Byleth jumped at the question. She hadn’t seen Rhea come over and was not even remotely ready to be spoken to.

“Jesus,” Byleth muttered under her breath.

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to startle you,” Rhea said.

“No, it’s fine.” Byleth touched Rhea’s arm to emphasize the point, and to give herself something to hold onto other than the bar. She needed something to ground her. “Really.” She patted her boss’s arm once more before dropping her hand to the bar again. Her eyes met the bartender who brought over her glass of water, finally. She wrapped her fingers around the cold beverage before taking a long, grateful sip. “I think it went well. It’s hard to tell, though. I’ve never done this before.”

“From what I hear, you did exceptionally well,” Rhea said.

Byleth quirked a brow at her. “From who?”

“Your students. It’s only been a week and they speak very highly of you.”

“Damn,” Byleth said before taking another sip of her water.

“Even some of the other students had a lot to say about you.”

Byleth tried not to roll her eyes. “I think I had probably twenty kids stop by my office this week who aren’t my actual students. Just to talk.” She used air quotes around those last few words.

“They’re a pretty tightly knit group. They look out for each other.”

“They’re a pretty nosy group is what they are.”

Rhea laughed. It was an earnest laugh, the sort of laugh Byleth wasn’t sure came easily to the Dean. “That, too.”

Byleth took another sip of her water. The cool liquid settling nicely in her stomach. She sighed contentedly before lowering it to the bar again. She gave Rhea a side eye, curiously.

“You know, this is a pretty weird tradition. Getting the newbie fucked up on her first week. If I didn’t know any better, I’d say I was being hazed.”

Rhea smiled softly. “Well, it was your father who started the tradition.”

“So I am being hazed. That explains it.”

Rhea laughed again. She took another sip of whatever wine she was drinking. Her green eyes slid over to Byleth and her lips curled downward slightly. She lowered the glass and leaned across the bar slightly.

“How is Jeralt these days?” It was the first time Rhea had sounded anything other than confident. At least as far as Byleth was aware.

Byleth didn’t know why exactly, but she had the feeling she was just thrown out onto some very thin ice. Her back straightened slightly. She forced herself to drink some more water before answering. “He’s good. A little bored in retirement now that I moved away. But he’s good.”

“That’s good, that’s good,” Rhea nodded. Byleth watched as she bit her lip and tried to look anywhere but at Byleth. “Is he going to come and visit you this semester?”

Byleth nodded. “Yeah, he’s actually planning on coming for Parents Weekend. He always said that was his favorite weekend at GMU.”

Rhea smiled at whatever memory that just prompted. “Oh, it certainly was. He actually brought you and your mother here for it once.”

Byleth found herself standing straight up. She turned to face Rhea fully. “Really?”

Rhea nodded. She twisted her upper body as well to look at Byleth. “You were just a little thing then. Two, maybe three years old.” The way her eyes glazed over, it was like she was returning to that moment now as she was talking about it. “Even then, you had this air about you. You were so composed and well-mannered for a toddler. But you were a little menace. We couldn’t let our eyes off you or else you’d be wandering off to cause mischief somewhere else.”

“Did I steal someone’s wallet? My dad always said I used to do that when I was really little.”

“Mine, actually,” Rhea laughed. “I had to trade you your father’s to get it back.”

“Wow, I was a little shit, huh?” Byleth laughed. She wished she had used a better word to describe herself, but her vocabulary had shrunk considerably after all those shots.

Rhea nodded with a laugh. A real one. “That’s one way to put it. But you were so sweet and so good. It was ridiculous to think you were a toddler.” Her eyes returned to Byleth’s then. She reached a hand forward and flicked a strand of hair that had fallen in Byleth’s eyes. “I nearly didn’t recognize you when you showed up for your interview with this hair.”

Byleth chuckled uncomfortably. She tucked the loose strand of hair behind her ear. “Well, I’m also a fair bit bigger than when I was a little shit.”

Rhea laughed. She turned to the bar again. “True enough.”

Catherine and Flayn came over and found Byleth then. They dragged her away from the bar - and her water, her one saving grace - straight out to the dancefloor. She couldn’t even hear whatever song it was the band was attempting to play. The tune was vaguely familiar, but the words were lost in the noise of the bar and her muddled brain. That didn’t stop her from dancing, of course.

The one benefit to being on the dancefloor was that none of her colleagues were trying to ply her with drinks anymore. They did all insist on getting at least one dance in with her. Even Jeritza came out to share a dance at one point. He wasn’t particularly good, but the effort was still there.

Somewhere just before midnight, Cyril and Catherine had a dance off at the center of the dancefloor. They were both so good and got so into it, that the band started playing it up. The lead singer narrated the entire event and got the crowd in on it. They used cheering as a way to vote on who was better. Of course, that just made the whole place louder and impossible to tell who actually won. And then, suddenly, Byleth was pushed out into the middle of the circle.

Cyril and Catherine both lost their minds, thinking Byleth had done it on her own. When she turned around to find - and yell at - whoever had done it, she saw Rhea smirking into her glass. Byleth forced a scowl and tried to leave the circle.

“No, no, no!” Catherine said aggressively. She grabbed Byleth by her bicep and pulled her back out into the circle. “Come on! Show us some moves!”

Byleth gave Catherine a pleading look with a tilt of her head. The older woman simply smiled broadly in response. Byleth knew there was no way Catherine would let her slink away now. Especially since Catherine is one of the few people she worked with to see her actually dance before. She dropped her head and let out a defeated sigh.

“Alright, gimme some space, then,” she said.

Catherine clapped her hands excitedly and pushed Cyril and the crowd back a few more inches. The singer made a comment about how they were about to see something good.

Byleth let her eyes drop to the ground. She swallowed thickly, praying to whatever god would listen that she wouldn’t immediately vomit from this. She shook her head and bounced on the balls of her feet twice. She shot an apprehensive glare at Catherine who only smirked in response.

And then she kicked her leg out in front of her. When it swung back, she used that momentum to carry her around and down to the floor. She was spinning and twirling before her shoulders even touched down. The crowd was already going wild before she’d made her first revolution.

It took all of her focus to keep her momentum up and not splay out across the floor. That left little focus to make sure she didn’t spray the contents of her stomach out on the crowd around her. But somehow, after the band and the crowd thoroughly lost their collective minds, she’d made it back to her feet without doing either.

Cyril was the first to descend upon her. He ran into her so hard, she stumbled slightly and threatened to tumble over. But she managed to hold them both up as Cyril shouted in her ear about how awesome that was. She wrapped an arm around his shoulder to steady herself. An easy laugh escaped her lips and she nodded in agreement with him. The rest of the science department was there in seconds, and the circle that had wrapped around them had disbanded. The band resumed its regular set and it was over.

Byleth was still a little dizzy from the break dancing and the alcohol, so Cyril and Flayn helped her over to a nearby table. Everyone else they had come with came over and joined them as well. Jeritza had gotten her another glass of water and passed it over. Cyril was raving about how cool Byleth was to Rhea. Flayn sat next to Byleth and was making sure she was good. She waved off the concern and downed the water.

The night calmed down a bit after that. And it wasn’t until Gilbert brought Byleth another water that she realized she hadn’t seen Catherine or Shamir since the dance off.

“Where’s Catherine?” Byleth asked Seteth.

He lifted his head up to look around the bar. “Not sure… With Shamir maybe.”

“Oh,” Byleth said into her drink.

“Is she alright?” Flayn asked, blissfully unaware of their relationship.

“I’m sure she’s fine,” Seteth said with an unconvincing smile.

As if on cue, Catherine and Shamir returned from what Byleth can only assume was the bathroom at that moment. Catherine was leaning a bit heavily on Shamir, her face had turned a ghastly pale color.

“I think I’m gonna take her home,” Shamir said, gesturing to Catherine.

Byleth felt her stomach flip as she realized Catherine was her ride. Thankfully, it was Rhea who gave voice to that concern. “Didn’t Catherine drive Byleth?”

“She did,” Byleth confirmed.

Shamir just shook her head at Byleth with a soft smile. “Yeah, I’m taking you home, too. Come on.”

“But it’s only midnight,” Cyril complained.

Byleth checked her phone to see that it was, in fact, midnight. A bit earlier than when she normally ends the night at a bar, but after that dance off she needed some sleep.

“Yeah, I think it’s best if I go now. I’m already tired and don’t want to think about how sore I’m going to be tomorrow,” Byleth admitted.

With the way Catherine looked, they kept their farewells short. Byleth helped load Catherine onto the backseat of her own car. It turned out Shamir took an uber to the bar not because she didn’t want to drive but because she assumed she’d be driving Catherine and Byleth home.

“She does this a lot, doesn’t she?” Byleth asked as she hopped back into the passenger seat.

“Too often,” Shamir answered.

“Are you good to drive? I saw you taking shots with us earlier.”

“I took two when you showed up. That’s it.”

“Alright.”

Byleth wasn’t sure that she believed Shamir until they actually got on the road.

Driving with Shamir was a vastly different experience to driving with Catherine. For one, Byleth didn’t feel like she was going to be hurtled through the windshield at every stop sign. But Shamir was also a lot quieter. She preferred to have classic rock playing in the background to speaking. Not that Byleth minded. Not right now at least.

They went to Byleth’s townhouse first. Shamir rolled to a stop outside of it. She couldn’t hide the surprise on her face when she realized that this was where Byleth lived. But she wasn’t as overt as Catherine was. If it had only been an hour ago, Byleth would’ve been too drunk to notice it.

Byleth hesitated before getting out of the car. She glanced to the backseat. Catherine was lying on her side with her knees bent up in front of her. She was far too tall to lie down comfortably on that backseat; her back would no doubt bother her tomorrow. Her mouth hung open and she left a nice puddle of drool on the leather seat.

“Will you be able to get her into her house okay?” Byleth asked.

Shamir nodded. “I’m stronger than I look.”

“I’m sure you are.”

Byleth pushed open the door and stepped out of the mustang. She held the door open and bent over to wave goodbye to Shamir. Shamir nodded back, lifting her hand slightly. Probably the most emotion she was going to show all night. Maybe ever.

Byleth straightened her back and shut the car door. She grabbed her key card out of her pocket and walked toward the gate.

“Byleth!” Shamir called just before she opened the gate.

Byleth took a step backward and turned around to look at Shamir expectantly.

“I… want to thank you. For what you said to Catherine,” Shamir said.

Byleth’s eyes widened. She shifted her weight from foot to foot. “I don’t know what you’re talking about. We just talked about puppies.”

Shamir chuckled with a shake of her head. “Well, whatever you said about puppies helped. We’re… dating now. I guess.”

“Puppies _are_ magical,” Byleth admitted.

Shamir shook her head again. “Get some sleep, Byleth.”

“You, too, Shamir.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thoughts?


	8. (Mercedes)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Suddenly, the otherwise subdued classroom was awash in cacophonous noise. Chairs were dragged forcefully across the tile floor. Books and bags were dropped like bricks. Everyone was loudly boasting about their weekends. Annette was even singing a song near the back of the room, not five feet from Manuela.
> 
> Manuela’s iced coffee was long gone. She attempted to bury her face in her hands and block out the sounds around her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> bit of a shorter chapter this time, sorry, but there isn't much to add in for Mercedes just yet
> 
> hit me up over at twitter and instagram (@bridgetserdock)

Immediately upon laying eyes on Manuela, Mercedes knew today was going to be a long one. She wore dark sunglasses over her likely bloodshot eyes. Her hair, though still styled, was a bit unkempt with a number of flyaways she normally never allows to exist clear on her forehead. She sat slumped over her desk sipping languidly on the largest cup of iced coffee the university’s cafe offered. She grumbled when Mercedes had turned the light on.

“Morning, Manuela,” Mercedes had said, making sure to keep her voice subdued.

“Mmm,” Manuela practically growled in response.

Mercedes knew Manuela was going out that weekend. She’d boasted about their plans to take out the new professor all week, how they were going to surprise her with free drinks and hopefully get her so drunk she’d still be feeling it come monday. One of them was definitely feeling it this morning, and it certainly wasn’t Professor Eisner.

“How many classes do we have today?” Manuela’s speech was slurred, but Mercedes had gotten used to deciphering her hungover jargon.

“Four. Intro to Bio, The Environmental World, Advanced Cell Bio, and Pre-Med 101,” Mercedes said. She made sure to speak slow and soft.

“Oh, fuck me,” Manuela groaned. “Could I cancel any of them?”

Mercedes hummed to herself as she took her seat at her desk. “Pre-Med 101, probably. It was just a review class for their exam on Friday. You’ll still have Wednesday to review. And it’s your last class of the day.”

“Perfect, send out an email!”

“Sure thing.”

As Mercedes typed up the email, she knew this was the first of many she would have to be writing for the semester. Manuela was just unwilling to admit that she couldn’t go out drinking like she used to anymore. And with Professor Eisner’s arrival, she was likely to try even harder to prove she could. That woman hated feeling like she was getting old (as if 36 was so incredibly old).

Their first two classes went by easily enough. BIO 101 (Intro to Biology) and BIO 113 (The Environmental World) were both comprised almost entirely of freshmen just trying to get their science requirements out of the way. Manuela was able to put up the lecture slides and let Mercedes read them off to the class. Mercedes answered the majority of the questions, deferring to Manuela only when absolutely necessary. Mercedes was deft enough to pretend her taking over was simply as a training exercise for herself and had nothing to do with Manuela nursing an awful hangover.

It was the Advanced Cell Biology class that was less than easy. At least for Manuela.

The moment the seniors saw Mercedes standing behind the lectern and not off in the corner like normal, they knew what was going on. Sylvain and Felix took one look at Manuela and immediately a plan was in motion. Mercedes need only look at Dimitri and Ingrid to know neither were fully on board with it. Annette and Ashe, on the other hand, were more than a little relieved. Only Dedue seemed indifferent.

Suddenly, the otherwise subdued classroom was awash in cacophonous noise. Chairs were dragged forcefully across the tile floor. Books and bags were dropped like bricks. Everyone was loudly boasting about their weekends. Annette was even singing a song near the back of the room, not five feet from Manuela.

Manuela’s iced coffee was long gone. She attempted to bury her face in her hands and block out the sounds around her.

Mercedes dove into the lesson as quickly as possible to quell any further uproars. But that didn’t seem to stop the students. They capitalized on any chance they got to move their chairs, or drop a book, or belch (impressively enough, Ingrid was the best belcher of the bunch). All the while Manuela was getting more and more irritable at the back of the classroom. It was getting to the point where you could literally feel her pain and anguish in the air.

About halfway through the lecture, Manuela gave Mercedes a pleading look. Mercedes’s lips pursed into a thin line and she drew in a sharp breath.

“We’ll end it here for now,” she said.

The students made no attempt to hide their excitement for their successful ruse. Annette caught Mercedes’s eyes and wagged her eyebrows at her, a wordless question hidden in the expression. Mercedes shook her head in response, trying to hide her smile. She knew there was no way she could get lunch now. Manuela would pass off whatever work she needed to do to her immediately after they left.

“Read the next two chapters and fill out the questions at the end before next class,” Mercedes instructed. Sylvain stood, lifting a hand to speak. Mercedes spoke over him, not letting the question leave his mouth. “Yes, _all_ of them.”

Mercedes collected Manuela’s notes and started packing up her own bag as the students filed out of the room. She watched as Felix and Sylvain triumphantly walked out of the room, near silently. Ingrid crept up behind them and smacked them both on the backs of their heads. Mercedes could just barely hear the lecture she was starting to give them before they disappeared into the hall.

“I should’ve just called out sick for today…” Manuela grumbled.

“Don’t say that, you did wonderfully,” Mercedes said attempting encouragement, though she couldn’t help but agree.

* * *

Manuela went home immediately after that. She left Mercedes with the task of inputting grades and updating Blackboard with the notes from today. For all four of their classes. Even Pre-Med 101 which they didn’t canceled.

She was right when she assumed she wouldn’t have the chance to get lunch with Annie. It had only been one week, but between the three 400 level courses they were teaching, there was already a lot to get done and logged. She wasn’t even halfway done with inputting the grades when Pre-Med 101 should’ve started. Glancing at the clock and seeing what time it was, she was tempted to just ignore it all and go home. Manuela could do it tomorrow when she’s less hungover.

As these thoughts rolled around in her head (thoughts she knew full well she’d never actually act upon), the door to hers and Manuela’s office was flung open. She lifted her head in shock about to yell at whoever it was (or, you know, talk rather sternly at) when she saw who it actually was.

Annette stood with her back pressed up against the door she had just burst in through. Her normally rosy cheeks were flushed with exertion. There was a wild glint in her blue gray eyes. She held a heavily laden paper bag in one hand, a noticeable grease stain down its front.

“Hi, Mercie!” She beamed.

“Hey, Annie. Did you bring me lunch?”

“Uh-huh.” Annette strode forward. She plopped the bag down on the desk before plopping herself down in the chair across from Mercedes. “I got us Boom Burger.”

Mercedes’s eyes went wide and she reached for the bag. Just crinkling the top back a bit let the heavenly, greasy scent of their lunch fill the office. Manuela will complain tomorrow, but that’s a tomorrow problem.

“Did you get fried oreos?” Mercedes asked.

“Of course!”

“Oh, Annie, you’re the best!”

With a giggle, Annette stood up to divvy out the food she’d bought them. Boom Burger had some of the best, greasiest burgers in town. It was the quite possibly the worst thing they could be eating. But it was worth it for the fried oreos. Mercedes felt her mouth watering the moment she saw the divine cardboard container that held them. She was about to grab her burger and dig in when a flash of movement caught her attention.

She lifted her eyes to the door to see Gilbert walking past. He was glancing all around the building very clearly looking for something. Or rather someone. Someone who very abruptly and unannounced burst into Mercedes’s office not five minutes ago.

“You know, you can’t keep coming in here to hide from your dad, Annie,” Mercedes said.

Annette’s eyes went wide as she took a massive bite from her burger. Her cheeks burned a brighter red and she tried to force the bite down her gullet.

“I’m not hiding from him,” she lied poorly.

Mercedes gestured to the door where they could both clearly see Gilbert walking around the science building hopelessly. “So he’s looking for someone else, then?”

Annette groaned. “Okay, fine, I’m hiding from him. But it’s not my fault.”

Mercedes arched a brow at her. “Then whose fault is it?”

“His?” Annie asked.

Mercedes elected not to dignify that with an answer. Instead she very calmly took a much smaller bite from her burger than Annette just did.

“I just don’t want to deal with him, okay? Just because I go to the school he teaches and coaches at doesn’t mean I have to talk to him,” Annette said.

“He’s kinda the whole reason you’re even able to go here, right?”

Annette just squirmed a bit more in her chair. “Yeah…”

“And he is your father.”

Annette groaned with a roll of her eyes. “I know, Mercie. I know he’s my father. I know he’s the reason I get to go here for free. I just… he’s the one who left. Okay? It’s not… I don’t have to talk to him.”

“Okay,” Mercedes conded.

It wasn’t worth the effort to continue arguing about this. It never got either of them anywhere. If anything, it only made both of them feel more guilty than when they started. Annie for ignoring and actively hiding from her own father, and Mercie for pushing a sore subject she knew she had no place pushing.

They fell into a moderately uncomfortable silence for a few moments before one of them could think of something to break it. The only sound was that of their chewing and the occasional ruffling of papers.

“Did you hear that Professor Eisner knows how to _breakdance_?” Annette said after a time.

Mercedes nearly spat her burger at Annie. She covered her mouth with a hand and swallowed hard to clear her airway. “What? Seriously?!”

“Yeah! Flayn showed me the video earlier. The science department apparently went out to a bar on Friday and she just went apeshit on the dancefloor. Flayn got it on video.” Annette leaned across the desk pulling out her phone. “Here, I got her to send it to me after class, I’ll show you.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thoughts?


	9. (Hubert)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Oh, Professor you gotta go!” Caspar said excitedly. “The tailgating is always amazing at these things. Coach Gilbert brings the best food!”
> 
> “Oh, and I’m sure the free alcohol has nothing to do with it,” Professor Eisner teased.
> 
> “I mean, it is a bonus,” Linhardt admitted, much quieter than his tablemate.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> come say his over on twitter and instagram (@bridgetserdock)

“Professor! You should come to our scrimmage tomorrow,” Ferdinand said. “We’re versing your alma mater!”

Like all of their other classes thus far, Professor Eisner was using the first few minutes of class to just talk. She intentionally left the first ten minutes available for everyone to, essentially, bullshit and destress. She encouraged the students to ask about the curriculum and try and gear the topic of conversation toward something at least a little bit educational. It rarely ever worked out that way. Like today, for instance, when Ferdinand took it upon himself to invite Professor Eisner to the football scrimmage tomorrow afternoon.

“Are you now?” Professor Eisner asked. The smile on her face suggested she already knew that.

“Oh, Professor you gotta go!” Caspar said excitedly. “The tailgating is always amazing at these things. Coach Gilbert brings the  _ best _ food!”

“Oh, and I’m sure the free alcohol has nothing to do with it,” Professor Eisner teased.

“I mean, it is a bonus,” Linhardt admitted, much quieter than his tablemate.

“Scrimmages are super casual,” Ferdinand continued. “We normally hang out on the field afterward. Coach fires up the grill and cooks up a bunch of burgers and hot dogs. And I’m pretty sure Remire’s team was planning on sticking around this year. It is a bit of a hike for them. You might even know their coach?”

Professor Eisner laughed. Hubert couldn’t help but notice that it was forced. “Yeah, I know him. We actually graduated together.”

“Then you gotta go!” Ferdinand said excitedly.

“She doesn’t have to go if she doesn’t want to, Ferdinand,” Edelgard said at Hubert’s right. It was clear she was more than a little exasperated with his badgering.

Professor Eisner shook her head with a soft smile. “I’ll consider it, Ferdinand. But I think it’s time I started actually teaching you.” She entered a command into her laptop and the screen behind her lit up.

She wasted no time in going over the day’s lecture. Today they were learning how to write their theses. More specifically how to allocate the time to write the potentially several hundred page dissertations they’d be finalizing this year. She spoke about her own experience with writing hers as well as how some of her classmates fared. She even mentioned the football coach for Remire University and how he put his off to the last possible minute and almost didn’t graduate on time because of it.

About halfway through the lesson, Hubert’s phone buzzed in his pocket. He glanced at the professor to make sure she wouldn’t notice. Not that it would matter much, she didn’t particularly care for people texting in class so long as they didn’t spend the whole time looking at their phones. Gratefully, Professor Eisner had her attention directed almost entirely at Petra who had asked for clarification on whatever the professor had just said.

Hubert pulled his phone from his pocket to see Ferdinand’s name across his screen. He lifted his eyes to the other student. Ferdinand wasn’t looking at him. He was facing forward, but from the back of the room Hubert could see his phone out on the table face up.

_ Are you coming to the scrimmage? _

Hubert took in a deep breath. He had no plans tomorrow. Edelgard and Dorothea had indicated that they were probably going to go, if only for the tailgating and barbecue afterward. It wouldn’t be out of character for Hubert to go with them. But something about the text made Hubert’s skin grow hot.

He stared at the screen a few moments before sending off a reply.  _ I’ll be there _ .

Hubert watched Ferdinand closely. His screen lit up and he reached for the phone. Hubert couldn’t see his face fully, but he knew he was smiling at it. Smiles always took over Ferdinand’s whole body, not just his face. It was refreshing. The sight of it made the heat in Hubert’s skin spread to his whole body, like he had just sunk into a hot spring.

* * *

Once classes were over the following day, Hubert made his way over to Enbarr Hall to meet up with Edelgard. He knew Ferdinand would already be at the field house getting ready for the scrimmage, but he still found his gaze drifting over to his door as he walked past it.

He found Edelgard out in the lounge talking to some of the freshmen. The group of girls had circled around Edelgard with a misty-eyed look on their faces. Hubert hung back a bit not wanting to intrude on whatever RA… thing was going on.

“You mean we can actually go to the tailgate?” One of the girls asked enthusiastically.

“That is exactly what I just said,” Edelgard said, doing a surprisingly good job at hiding her exasperation. “Everyone’s welcome.”

“Can we drink?” Another asked.

Edelgard let out a laugh. “Of course not. You’re all underage.” She paused for a moment, just long enough for all of their expressions to drop. “Of course, if no one’s looking, who’s to know what you do at the tailgate?” All of the girls’ faces lit up immediately, a devilish glint in their eyes. The same sort of devilish glint that Edelgard often had when they were freshman and sneaking alcohol into their dorm rooms. “Just make sure I don’t find you passed out in the bathroom or something. I  _ really _ don’t want to deal with all that paperwork.”

“You won’t, we promise, Edelgard,” the first girl answered.

The group dispersed after that, breaking off into small giggling groups before running off to their rooms. Hubert stepped forward and let out a dark chuckle so that Edelgard knew he was there.

“Freshmen never change, do they?” He asked.

She turned around with a roll of her eyes. “You have no idea.”

“Were we that bad?”

“No. We never asked for permission. We just had Dorothea drag us to our bad choices.”

“Ah, that makes sense.” Hubert glanced around the hall. “Where is Dorothea?”

“She’s with Ingrid. They’re going to meet us at the tailgate.”

She strode past him to the elevator he had just stepped off of. The elevator, thankfully, hadn’t left just yet. They stepped inside the box and waited for it to descend back to the lobby.

“Are they ever going to admit that they’re dating?” Hubert asked.

Edelgard sighed with the same sort of exasperation she’d worn all day. “I don’t think either of them even know that they are.”

Hubert scoffed. “Dorothea doesn’t know that she’s flirting with Ingrid every day?”

“Oh she knows what she’s doing, alright. She just doesn’t realize what it does to Ingrid. Or that she reciprocates.”

“How hopeless,” Hubert muttered. He couldn’t help but note his neck growing hot again at how familiar that felt.

Edelgard shrugged. “They’ll figure it out, eventually.”

“Soon, I hope.”

“Agreed. I can only stand them each eye fucking each other from across the room so much before I finally snap.”

Hubert quirked a brow at her. There was more acid in her words than there probably should’ve been. In fact, she’d been more on edge as of late since the start of the semester. Since her call with her uncle last week. The call that she still wouldn’t talk about.

“I take it your uncle hasn’t backed off yet?” Hubert asked as the elevator doors slid open again.

Edelgard ignored him completely and stepped off of the elevator quickly, creating some distance between the two of them. She didn’t slow down until they were outside once more. When he caught back up with her, she was biting her lip. Her lilac eyes were downcast.

She took in a deep breath and a determined expression fell over her features. “No, he hasn’t.”

“Have you talked to your dad about it?”

She laughed dryly. “Like that would do anything. He might be the CEO, but he has no control over my uncle.”

“Then you should stand up to him.”

“I will, I will.” Edelgard nodded, but from the way she averted his gaze Hubert knew it wouldn’t happen any time soon. “Eventually.”

Sensing that that was the extent of their conversation about her uncle (for now), Hubert decided to change the subject. He asked her how the party at the soccer house had gone. He had gotten stuck in the library with Bernadetta for their group project in Public Speaking and wasn’t able to go. Edelgard immediately perked up and told him all about the evening, almost start to finish.

The conversation carried them all the way to Gronder Field parking lot. They could hear the tailgate long before they could see either goalpost.

Raphael donated his truck for the event, even though he couldn’t attend as he was getting some pep talk or another in the locker room. Felix had hooked his phone to bluetooth speakers Raphael had in the bed of his truck and was blasting some song Hubert didn’t recognize, though he didn’t hate it. Not entirely.

Petra greeted them first, three jello shots in hand. “You’re late. Again. You have to catch up,” she said. Her english always suffered once she started drinking. She seemed to be doing okay so far, but it probably wouldn’t be much longer until she reverted back to her native tongue entirely.

“How much have you had?” Edelgard asked her.

“Not enough!” Petra responded before tossing back her own jello shot.

Hubert wasn’t much of a fan of jello shots. They were far too sweet. He’d rather just take a regular shot. But, it was a tradition. Or a superstition, really. Anyone who came to the tailgate had to have one or else the team wouldn’t win. They did it for both the football and rugby games. Not that Hubert believed in such nonsense. He just wasn’t going to be the person to not take one. After all, what if the superstition turned out to be true? How embarrassed he would feel. And how awful for making Ferd-- the team lose.

He grimaced at the taste in his mouth as he tossed the now empty paper container. “Any chance we could start a new tradition? Take whiskey shots instead of jello?”

“You can ask Hilda if you really want,” Edelgard said with a knowing smile.

Hubert’s grimace deepened at the thought. “Jello shots are fine.”

Edelgard laughed. “Thought so.”

“Come on!” Petra said excitedly. She grabbed both Edelgard and Hubert by the arm and dragged them over to the assemblage of food before them. “We must be eating before the food is gone.”

Caspar and Ingrid had coordinated the food for the event with Professors Manuela and Gilbert. There was baked mac and cheese, a fruit salad, sweet potato fries, twice baked potatoes dripping with a cheddar cheese sauce, grilled bacon jalapeno poppers, buffalo chicken dip, barbecue and buffalo wings, some nondescript pasta salad, a plethora of sliders, and mini hot dogs. Dorothea, Claude, and Hilda brought the drinks: jello shots (naturally), two coolers full of beer and seltzers, a third with waters and sodas, and three pitchers of varying margarita-esque drinks. Mercedes, Annette, and Lysithea handled the desserts: peanut butter cookies, lemon bars, brownies, some smores and pudding concoction, and raspberry crumb bars.

It was a veritable feast.

After Hubert and Edelgard had gone back for seconds, Hubert felt his phone buzzing in his back pocket again. He was surprised, to say the least. Anyone who would want to talk to him was already here.

_ Is the professor there? _ It was Ferdinand.

Hubert couldn’t stop himself from smiling at his phone. He rolled his eyes with a gruff scoff. He lowered the phone to take a look around the lot.

The majority of the professors were there, for sure. Catherine and Shamir were sharing a plate of the pudding dish Mercedes had made; or rather they were fighting over who could eat more of it. Hanneman and Manuela were having an argument near the edge of the tailgate, probably about something trivial and pointless. Professor Cichol was cheersing with Alois, Flayn, and Cyril over who knows what. The only two from the science department not present were Professor Eisner and Rhea. (And Gilbert, but he was in the locker room with the team).

_ Not yet _ . Hubert wrote back. He paused a moment as a thought crossed his mind.  _ Aren’t you supposed to be getting prepared for your game? Not worrying about our dear professor? _

_ I can multitask _ .

Hubert could practically see Ferdinand’s smug smirk at that. He slid his phone back into his pocket with a laugh and shook his head.

“Hubert, come have a drink with us!” Caspar called as soon as he’d put his phone away.

Hubert lifted his head to see Caspar standing next to Ashe, Ignatz, Felix, and Linhardt. They were each holding a recently opened Blue Moon. Hubert knew immediately that Caspar meant for him to chug one with them. He fought the scowl he knew was falling over his features.

“Sure,” Hubert relented. When he took an open beer from the shorter man, he added, “But if I vomit, it’s on you.”

“Hopefully not literally,” Caspar laughed.

“I have surprisingly good aim,” Hubert said darkly.

Caspar laughed again, all too used to Hubert’s empty threats. “Good thing there’s a garbage right there!”

The tailgate proceeded much the same as that. Everyone coercing everyone else into drinks that they probably shouldn’t be entertaining. Loud music and delicious food that was more than a bit overwhelming. And just a lot of noise and joviality. The semester had just started and they were all more than a little excited for the year to begin in earnest.

By the time the game actually started, everyone had a pretty decent buzz going on. Even Bernadetta who rarely came to these was enjoying herself.

Even though it was just a scrimmage, they all treated it like a rather serious affair. They pounded their feet and cheered when the team ran out onto the field. As Coach Gilbert listed off the seniors, their small section erupted into raucous shouting at each one. They got noticeably louder when Raphael, Lorenz, Sylvain, and Ferdinand were all called off.

The way the team practiced at a scrimmage was much more relaxed than at an actual game. Especially at a scrimmage against Remire University. Despite the relatively short distance between the two schools and the fact that they were of equal skill levels, there wasn’t a rivalry there. GMU and Remire were in two different divisions. They didn’t actually compete in season against each other. Their scrimmages were the only time they really interacted. Both teams were rather lax around each other. Joking around and messing with each other like they were on the same team, even.

It was during this practice that Ferdinand stole a glance at the bleachers. Hubert wasn’t completely sure, but it definitely looked like Ferdinand looked right at him. It was possible he was just acknowledging all of their friends. But when he waved in their direction, Hubert just couldn’t shake the feeling that it was meant for him. So he waved back.

Realizing that anyone could’ve seen it, his neck grew hot immediately. He shrank slightly into the bleachers and glanced at Edelgard. If she noticed or not, she didn’t let on.

“Professor Eisner!” Petra shouted from a few rows away, her voice cutting into everyone’s conversation. “You came!”

Her exclamation drew everyone’s attention toward the new professor as she walked over to where they all sat.

Professor Eisner had changed since this afternoon when Hubert had passed her in the hall during her office hours. Instead of the simple pants and shirt combo, she now wore a pair of faded black jeans and a yellow and red graphic tee shirt. The word “ _ athletics _ ” was the only thing Hubert could make out. She wore a red and gold letterman jacket atop it with a Remire University patch stitched to the right side of it; the letters RU were emblazoned over the profile of a howling wolf.

“You traitor!” Catherine gasped from the front row. “You’re no longer invited to brunch!”

Professor Eisner laughed. “I’m comfortable with that.”

“Really, professor? You’re gonna support the enemy?” Caspar balked.

The professor made a show of looking down at her jacket in surprise, almost like she didn’t know she was wearing it. “Guess I am.”

“Sorry, professor, but the loser’s section is over there,” Hilda chimed in, pointing to the right where the Remire University fans were seated.

The entire group “ _ oh’d _ ” in response. Professor Eisner only smirked in response. She waited patiently for the cheers to die down before she replied.

“Did you all manage to get lost on your way there or something? Or were you too tired from overestimating yourselves to make it?” She said with a crooked smile.

The playful banter ended almost immediately after that when Remire kicked it off. Professor Eisner certainly stood out in a sea of green and silver, but if it bothered her it was impossible to tell. Not that Hubert spent much more time focused on her. His attention, much like everyone else’s, was dragged to the field.

The game had an explosive start with Lorenz receiving the kickoff and almost running it right to the endzone. He was tackled just shy of the thirty yard line, putting them in excellent position. It was then that Ferdinand finally stepped onto the field, his arrival accompanied with an uproarious cheer from the GMU students and fans. Even Edelgard cheered, which let Hubert feel a little less guilty for it. As if simply cheering for a friend that his best friend wasn’t particularly fond of was something to feel guilty about.

Ferdinand and Sylvain performed a flea flicker play immediately after taking the field. It happened so fast that Hubert nearly missed Sylvain throwing the ball back to Ferdinand. He couldn’t help but smile when Ferdinand crossed into the endzone.

Remire University wasn’t one to sit back and let them get away with that, however. The rest of the game was a heated contest between the two. All the way up into the fourth quarter, they were neck and neck. Aside from that first touchdown, the only points scored were from field goals, both teams proving an equal match for the other. It was a wonder that they were in different divisions, at all.

In the last two minutes of play, Ferdinand took a nasty hit. There was a hole in the line somewhere near Raphael, just big enough for one of the defenders to slip through. Raphael reached an arm out to stop them, but couldn’t quite manage it as he was already holding back two other defenders. The other lineman broke through and sacked Ferdinand for a loss of ten yards.

The stands erupted in shouting, mostly from GMU. Hubert, however, didn’t shout. He stood on the bleachers, his gaze zeroing in on Ferdinand who didn’t look to be moving just yet. A pit formed in his stomach as he watched in horror.

_ Get up _ , he silently ordered.  _ Just get up _ .

No one else seemed to notice it, however. Not even the announcer. Because mere moments after the play ended, the defender who’d sacked him pulled him to his feet. They gripped each other amicably and patted each other's helmets before separating. But Ferdinand was moving a bit slower. His neck appeared a bit stiffer. And it looked like he might even be limping.

He shook his head and returned to the line of scrimmage to finish out the game. The loss of ten yards proved too much for GMU and they were unable to gain back the ground needed to seal their win. Their field goal attempt went wide and then Remire had possession.

Remire’s quarterback was nearly as good as Ferdinand, and purposely made the minutes drag on. The last two minutes of gameplay were excruciating as Remire slowly made their way back over the length of the football field. In the last few seconds of the game, the quarterback threw a perfect spiral to one of the wide receivers in the endzone securing them victory. And with that, it was over.

Remire won 10-17.

Professor Eisner wasted no time in rubbing it in everyone’s faces, clearly not meaning it in the slightest. She wore her head high the rest of the night.

Hubert, however, hardly heard her teasing and jabs. He was too busy trying to keep an eye on Ferdinand. The quarterback had removed his helmet letting his long red hair fall gracelessly around his head. He was smiling and joking with both teams as far as Hubert could tell. But there was still a stiffness to his motions. He was hurt. Probably not bad, but he was still hurt.

Once the officials cleared the game, the students descended onto the field. Alois helped Coach Gilbert bring the grill out to the field. Ignatz and Raphael drove Raphael’s truck as close to the field as possible before unloading all the food and drinks again. And soon they were partying again.

Remire’s football team hung back to join in the festivities, as Ferdinand said they might. Professor Eisner found the other coach, or rather he found her, and the two seemed to get absorbed in some private conversation near the edge of the party. Felix started playing music from Raphael’s speakers again. And when Alois brought the first tray of hot dogs out to the group on the field, that’s when the cheering and shouting really began.

Hubert tried to join in the festivities, but his mind kept dragging him back to Ferdinand. He couldn’t get himself to calm down enough to enjoy the partying. He knew well enough to give Ferdinand space to celebrate the start of the season. But he couldn’t shake the feeling that he had to talk to him. Just to make sure he was okay. Naturally. Not for any other reason.

* * *

Hubert hung back after everything had died down. He was there after Raphael, Ignatz, and Caspar packed up Raphael’s truck. He was there after the professors left. He was there after Edelgard left to deal with her residents and made sure he was okay hanging back by himself. He was there after the Remire University football team left on their bus back to their hotel. He was there long after the rest of their friends left.

He stayed leaning against the wall outside the field house where the football team had walked out of. He checked his phone every few minutes to see what time it was or to scroll social media or to pretend he wasn’t nervously waiting for someone who was  _ just a friend _ .

It was nearing midnight when he began to think he might’ve missed him entirely. He stuffed his phone into his pocket again and leaned off the wall. He had resigned himself to walking back to his solitary apartment when he heard a very familiar voice.

“Hubert?”

His head whipped around to see Ferdinand in the doorway he was just standing beside.

He had showered and changed out of his green and silver uniform. In its place he wore a worn pair of faded blue jeans and a white tee shirt with “GMU Athletic Dept” printed onto the front in a slanting font. His red hair, still wet from his shower, stuck to his neck and face. The black denim jacket he wore over the shirt had the sleeves rolled up to expose his toned forearms. He held his backpack on one shoulder with his left hand.

“Did you… wait for me…? Or something?” Ferdinand asked. His amber eyes darted off to the side uncomfortably.

Hubert straightened his back, realizing he had been open-mouthed staring at Ferdinand for far too long. “You took a nasty hit in those last few minutes. I just… wanted to make sure you were okay?” His ears burned as he spoke.

Ferdinand shrugged. “I’m a little sore, yeah. But I took an ice bath. Should be fine by Saturday.”

Hubert nodded. “Good. That’s… good.”

Ferdinand eyed Hubert curiously. He slid his backpack over both his shoulders and adjusted his jacket nervously. “Do you… want to go get coffee?”

Hubert laughed. “You hate coffee.”

Ferdinand rolled his eyes with an exasperated sigh. “Well, I’ll have tea naturally. But you like coffee better. So I’m not going to ask you if you want tea when we both know you’re going to get coffee instead.”

“I’d like that,” Hubert said with a smile.

“Great!” Ferdinand beamed. “We could go to Starbucks. I’m pretty sure they’re open for another hour.”

“Or, we could go back to my apartment.” When Ferdinand arched a brow at Hubert, he hastened to explain. “I keep some teas in stock for Edelgard. And for whenever my father comes to visit. They don’t really visit all that often. I’d hate for them to go to waste.”

Ferdinand’s gaze softened. “That would be great. Lead the way.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thoughts?


	10. (Marianne)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Can I stay with you tonight?” Marianne asked. The words felt hollow. Empty. Like they were coming from a robot.
> 
> “Of course,” Hilda answered. She lifted her head to rest her chin on Marianne’s shoulder. “We’ll set up the pull-out for--”
> 
> Marianne shook her head slightly. It was so minute a motion, she wondered if Hilda would’ve seen it had she not been pressed so closely against her. “No. Can I stay WITH YOU tonight?”
> 
> Hilda hesitated. “O-of course,” she said quieter this time.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ***Trigger Warning***: there are themes of sexual assault in this chapter. nothing... happens. not really. but it's still... there

“Do you want a ride?” Hilda asked Marianne with an arched brow and a seductive wink.

She had already loaded into Dorothea’s car along with Petra and a few other girls from Phi Mu. There wasn’t much room left in the old sedan, and the Phi Mu house was on the opposite side of town as Marianne’s apartment. Marianne had the sneaking suspicion that Hilda was actually inviting her to spend the night. While she wanted nothing more than to do just that, she had class in the morning. Besides, her apartment was only a few blocks away.

“I’m okay,” she finally said, after appraising the overly stuffed vehicle for probably a little too long. “I could use the fresh air.”

“Are you sure? It’s not a problem. Right Dorothea?”

“Yeah, it’s totally fine. We can squeeze,” Dorothea said.

Based on the plaintive looks she was getting from the girls in the back, Marianne knew they didn’t exactly want to squeeze. She gave a soft smile to Hilda. “I’m sure. I’ll see you tomorrow, though?”

“Yeah, definitely!”

Marianne worried that the smile Hilda gave her was a forced one, that she was actually mad she didn’t want to spend the night. But that wasn’t going to make her change her mind. She couldn’t afford to miss class tomorrow because she was up all night with Hilda. Again.

She stood on the sidewalk outside the parking lot and waved as Dorothea drove off. The girls from their sorority waved from the back seat as they drove off. She returned the wave with a half-hearted smile.

Almost everyone had left the barbecue at this point. Marianne was one of the few people that had hung back. In the last few minutes, basically everyone vacated all at once. She took a glance around to see if there was anyone left she knew, making sure to say goodbye before walking back to her apartment.

There were a few of the football players walking back toward campus and a handful other students milling about. The other team had already loaded up onto the bus and departed. Even the professors were gone. The only stragglers were people she didn’t recognize. So she left.

The walk to her apartment from campus was an easy one. She lived in a quieter part of town despite only being a few blocks from the school. The majority of her neighbors were older couples and weird cat ladies. Which meant there were never any parties or large gatherings. Everyone was friendly enough, but they still stayed out of each other’s way. They were Marianne’s kind of people.

The night air was nice. It was a little cold against her bare legs, but not the biting sort of cold that would quicken her pace. It was the sort of cold you needed after one too many drinks. And god knows she had more than just _one_ too many (under Hilda’s influence).

The sky was clear. Not a cloud in sight. It allowed for a crystal clear view of the moon overhead. Marianne couldn’t help but think that it was a perfect night, despite the loss to Remire University.

She had just turned onto her street when she heard heavy footfalls not too far behind her. The moment she heard them, her back went rigid. The hairs at the back of her neck stood on end. All the sound around her drowned out and the footsteps crashed in sharp clarity in her ears. Her head twitched slightly at the noise.

Her steps hurried. Her eyes lifted to her apartment door. The townhouse she rented for the year was only a hundred feet away. She could make it if she ran.

But when the footsteps behind her quickened to catch up with her, a sobering thought dawned on her. If she went into her apartment whoever this was that was following her would know where she lived. Even if she got away this time, she wouldn’t get away next time.

She wasn’t sure what whether it was courage or madness that fell over her then, but she decided to look over her shoulder.

Sure enough, she was being followed. By someone so distinctly male in their features that a current of fear, so alien and primal, cut straight through to her heart. She couldn’t see their face, it was too dark and they looked like they might have been wearing a hood. Or perhaps a hat. She wasn’t sure. All she knew was that this… this person was following her home.

Her head snapped forward and she started walking faster. Her pursuer picked up his pace as well.

Marianne began to think of where she could go. She could go back to campus. There were those panic buttons all over the place. Campus police would be there in five minutes. But she would have to cut back through the park to get there now. She couldn’t simply turn around to go back the way she’d come.. Not with that person there. The only way - or rather the fastest way - was to take a sharp left and go through the park. But it wasn’t well lit. And if he decided to chase her? She wasn’t particularly fast. He would certainly catch her. And then what?

She didn’t know anyone else that lived in the area. But even if she had, could she really lead this man to their house? Would it be safe? Would it be wise? Would it be fair?

“Excuse me?” her pursuer called. “Excuse me, miss! I think you dropped something!”

Marianne’s heart nearly stopped. Her hands flew to her pockets. She had her phone and her wallet. But she couldn’t find her keys. Had that been why he was following her? Did she drop her keys? Was he just trying to return them? Was he simply a good samaritan and her damaged brain immediately jumped to the worst case scenario?

Her steps faltered at her indecision and he was upon her within seconds.

She made sure to turn and face him fully. She was determined to make it appear like she wasn’t afraid. Like he might be the one who should be afraid.

“I’m sorry?” She asked.

“It looked like you dropped something back on the corner,” the man said. His face was still mostly hidden in shadow, so she couldn’t see what he looked like completely. He reached a hand into his front jacket pocket carefully. “Just wanted to return it.”

Before he even pulled the item out of his pocket, Marianne remembered she had put her keys in her own jacket pocket. Her fingers found the familiar key ring and she knew immediately whatever he had found wasn’t hers.

“Is this yours?” He procured a small piece of paper that looked like it was taken straight from the garbage.

“Uh, no,” Marianne said. “Sorry.”

She turned to walk away from him, but he took a step toward her. “Hey, what are you doing tonight?”

She glared at him over her shoulder. “Going home.”

“Do you want to get a drink?” He entered her space quickly, and Marianne could already feel herself getting boxed in.

“No, I’m fine, thank you,” Marianne said quickly.

“Oh, come on. I’ll pay!”

“I’m not worried about paying, thank you. I just want to get home.”

She attempted to step around the man, but he blocked her path. As he did, Marianne realized just how tall and imposing he was. How broad his shoulders were. How strong the alcohol on his breath was. How he seemed to lean over her, leeringly.

“Just one drink?” He asked again.

“No thank you,”’ Marianne said as forcefully as she could manage.

Suddenly he placed a clammy hand on her shoulder. His fingers were tough and firm on her shoulder, holding her in place where she stood. She attempted to step back from him, but he followed her. His grip remained on her shoulder and his face lowered to hers until they were breathing each other’s air. She wanted to vomit.

“I’ll make it worth your while,” he slurred.

“Hey!” A new voice rang out across the street.

Fast footsteps approached from who knows where. The man leaned back slightly and Marianne was able to breathe again. She tried turning to whoever it was that had approached them, but the man blocked her from them.

“What part of ‘no’ do you not understand?! Leave her the hell alone!” The voice sounded familiar, but Marianne couldn’t quite place it.

“We’re fine,” the man said. His grip on Marianne’s shoulder loosened slightly as he stepped toward whoever approached them. “This doesn’t concern you.”

“Like hell it doesn’t! Leave now.”

“Or what?” The man stepped away from Marianne entirely, putting his back to her. It wasn’t until that moment that Marianne finally caught a glimpse of who it was that had come to her rescue. It was Professor Eisner. The new physics professor. She was nearly a whole foot shorter than the man, but approached him with the bravado of a seasoned war veteran. “Are you gonna make me?”

“If I have to,” Professor Eisner said. She stepped into the man’s space forcefully.

The man stepped back reflexively, but not in Marianne’s direction. Professor Eisner was maneuvering him away from her. She slid into the space she’d created between the man and Marianne. Marianne found herself transfixed on that spot, staring at the new professor with wide eyes. Who even was this woman?

The man lifted his head to look down at the professor. “I’d like to see you try.”

Professor Eisner advanced on the man again, forcing him a few more inches back. She kept her head level, likely staring straight into the man’s eyes. Marianne could only imagine the terrifying visage she must have borne as she approached him.

“Get out of here,” Professor Eisner ordered.

The man’s head jerked as he looked from the professor to Marianne and back again. Marianne’s nerves were alight with fear and she was sure her body language conveyed that. But the professor? She was an image of unparalleled confidence and calm. Like a sculpture carved out of pure marble.

“You’re not worth it,” the man grumbled.

He spat at the ground and turned to walk away. The professor didn’t move for a few moments, staring to make sure the man left. When he was a safe distance away, she turned to face Marianne finally.

The rigidity in her back was gone. Whatever calm fury had taken her before was now replaced entirely with concern. Her brow was furrowed and her blue eyes were wide. She stepped toward Marianne slowly and carefully. She didn’t get too close, though, something Marianne was more than grateful for.

But before either of them could speak, a flash of movement caught Marianne’s attention. Her eyes flicked over the professor’s shoulder and went wide. “Professor, look out!”

Before the words had even left her mouth, the professor had moved. Maybe she’d heard the man turn back and run at her. Or maybe she’d expected it. Either way she was ready to defend herself.

She spun around to the man, easily blocking the overhead strike he had directed at the blue-haired woman. The professor used the man’s own momentum and a carefully placed foot in order to throw the man past both herself and Marianne out into the middle of the street. He fell with a thunderous thud onto the asphalt. His face smacked down so hard, Marianne was certain she heard his nose break.

When he got to his knee and Marianne could see the bloody mess that was his face, she was certain his nose did break. He lifted a hand to his face and winced away from it. His eyes lifted to the professor, burning with anger and hatred.

“You broke my nose!” He shouted.

“Yeah, and I’ll break a lot more than that if you don’t leave. Now,” the professor answered.

The man clambered to his feet. He was a bit shakier than he was a moment ago. Possible head trauma, Marianne reasoned.

“I’ll call the police.” The threat felt hollow, even to Marianne.

“Go ahead.” The professor jerked her head to the bank up the street, only a few houses down. “Those cameras will show what happened easily enough.”

Marianne stole a glance at the bank. She wasn’t completely sure that the bank’s cameras could catch anything this far away. But she didn’t want this man to know that.

The man swayed side to side once, unbridled anger evident in his dark eyes. But, eventually, he backed off. He stumbled back down the street where he’d come from. This time, neither Marianne nor the professor looked away until he’d left their street.

When Professor Eisner laid eyes on her again, Marianne realized she was shaking.

“Marianne… right?” she asked.

Marianne blinked at her, surprised she even knew her name. Eventually she gathered her bearings and nodded. “Y-yes. That’s me.”

“Are you alright?” the professor asked.

“I’m fine,” Marianne lied.

The other woman’s forehead creased with concern. “Do you live nearby?”

“Y-yeah,” Marianne mumbled out.

The professor paused. “Do you live alone?”

Marianne’s voice caught in her throat at the implication of those words. She nodded, unable to bring herself to answer the question.

“Is there somewhere else you can stay tonight? So that you’re not alone?”

“I…” Marianne couldn’t seem to think of anyone. Her thoughts were muddled. Was there anyone she trusted enough that was nearby?

“I live two blocks that way,” the professor said pointing up the street, opposite from where the man had slunk off to. “We can walk over there together and I can drive you wherever you want to go. Or you can even stay with me if you’d feel safe there.”

Marianne glanced off to the side. She certainly didn’t want to be alone. But she didn’t know the professor. Not well, at least. Hardly at all. The first time they’d even interacted was at the game tonight. And that was minimal, at best. But where could she go? Then a realization dawned on her. She kicked herself for not thinking of it sooner.

“Do you know where the Phi Mu house is?” She asked.

Professor Eisner shook her head. “No, but you can show me. Come on.”

* * *

They stood outside the Phi Mu house for less than a minute before Dorothea opened the door. Marianne’s nerves were on edge. Her mind was blanking and coming back to reality every few seconds. She couldn’t seem to focus on anything at all. So when the door opened and Dorothea saw both her and Professor Eisner standing there, she barely even moved. She stood there, numb to the world, as the professor asked Dorothea if it was alright for Marianne to stay the night. Marianne felt foolish that she needed the professor to ask. Childish even. Like she was at her friends house, asking to sleepover.

“She’s pretty shaken up,” she heard the professor say, one of the only phrases able to reach her ears somehow.

And then Hilda came to the door and the world became crystal clear. Or at least Hilda did.

Marianne stepped over the threshold into the house and wordlessly slipped into Hilda’s arms. Her momentum carried them both backwards until Hilda was able to support them.

“Marianne?” Hilda exclaimed. “What’s going on?”

Her sudden movements definitely gave everyone who was nearby pause. Dorothea and the professor at least had the decency to act like it was normal. They continued their hushed conversation as if it hadn’t happened. Marianne could feel everyone else’s eyes on her. Not that she cared.

“Can I stay with you tonight?” Marianne asked. The words felt hollow. Empty. Like they were coming from a robot.

“Of course,” Hilda answered. She lifted her head to rest her chin on Marianne’s shoulder. “We’ll set up the pull-out for--”

Marianne shook her head slightly. It was so minute a motion, she wondered if Hilda would’ve seen it had she not been pressed so closely against her. “No. Can I stay _with you_ tonight?”

Hilda hesitated. “O-of course,” she said quieter this time. She drew a hand up to the back of Marianne’s head. “Anything for you.”

Marianne didn’t say goodbye to Professor Eisner or hello to any of the sisters in Phi Mu. Not even Dorothea. She just followed after Hilda to her room. As she went, no longer wrapped up in Hilda’s arms, she felt herself go numb again. Her thoughts bled out to static as she tried to both think about and completely ignore what had just happened to her.

She didn’t feel herself coming back to earth until she and Hilda had settled into Hilda’s queen sized bed. Hilda had somehow gotten her to change out of her day clothes and put on some of Hilda’s pajamas. Marianne sank into the bed and into Hilda. Her scent was everywhere around Marianne. It was comforting.

Hilda cradled Marianne. She held her close to her chest, her strong arms wrapped protectively around her shoulders.

“What happened, Marianne?” Hilda whispered into her ear.

“Something bad,” Marianne whispered back.

Hilda hesitated again. Marianne couldn’t see her face, but she could imagine the expression. Her brow knit and her nose crinkled as she tried to understand. “Are you alright?”

It was Marianne’s turn to hesitate. The numb feeling threatened to wash over her again, but she bit it back. She didn’t want to do that. Not here. Not with Hilda. But when she forced it away, the fear from earlier settled into her bones. And tears stung against her eyes. She buried her face in Hilda’s neck.

“No,” she admitted. Her tears stained her voice.

“Do you want to talk about it?” Hilda asked.

“N-not now,” Marianne answered.

“Okay,” Hilda said softly. She pressed a kiss to Marianne’s hairline. “You’re safe now. Get some sleep.”

Marianne couldn’t even begin to fathom how she might manage to find sleep tonight. How she’d ever be able to find sleep. But Hilda’s fingers in her hair helped. As did Hilda’s warmth. And her scent. And the familiarity of their bodies pressed against each other.

It didn’t take as long as she feared it may have for sleep to find her.

* * *

Dorothea and Hilda sat on the bed with Marianne the following morning. The three of them were all still in their pajamas (Marianne in Hilda’s, technically). Hilda held Marianne’s hands in her own. Marianne could feel her anger through their joined hands. Dorothea’s green eyes were wide and her jaw clenched.

“I deserved it…” Marianne said after a time.

“What?” both Hilda and Dorothea balked.

“Don’t say that!” Hilda said, trying to be comforting.

“No one deserves that, Marianne! The only thing that happened last night that was deserved was what the professor did to that prick’s face,” Dorothea snapped. Her anger was far less tempered than Hilda’s.

Marianne glanced off to the side. “I should’ve just come back with you guys after the game. Or I could’ve gone out with Lorenz and Leonie like they asked. Or I could’ve gotten a ride with Ignatz or Raphael. Or--”

“It doesn’t matter what _you_ could’ve done, Marianne. It’s what _he_ did that’s the problem. You shouldn’t have to police your behavior because there are twats like _him_ out there.” Hilda was struggling to hold back her anger now. “No one should.”

Marianne dropped her gaze to the floor. “If the professor hadn’t been there…”

“But she was. And you’re okay. That’s all that matters,” Dorothea said firmly.

“Okay…”

Hilda squeezed Marianne’s hands, dragging her gaze to her eyes. “Hey. You’re safe. Okay? You’ll always be safe here. We’re not going to let anything happen to you.”

“But I live halfway across town,” Marianne said.

Hilda shook her head at her. “Not anymore you don’t. You’re moving in here.” She said it like it was so obvious. Like they’d even discussed it.

“Hilda…”

Hilda lifted a hand to her. “I don’t want to hear any protests. You’re moving in. We’re going to help you move in today. All of us. We’ll drive over to your place later and pack up all your stuff and bring it over here. You’ll share my room. It’s the biggest one in the house. It’s, like, _way_ too much room for just me anyway.” Marianne highly doubted that. Hilda always took up a lot of space. Even when she didn’t have the space for it.

“I already spoke to the rest of the girls. They’re all on board,” Dorothea explained. “We’re even willing to chip in and pay for your rent for the year if your landlord decides to be a jerk.”

Marianne looked between the two girls nervously. The numbness from the night before was gone. Only replaced by an overwhelming fear she knew she wouldn’t shake for a while. Her lip quivered and tears stung at her eyes again. She wiped at them with the back of her hand. “Why are you being so nice?”

Hilda let out a noise that sounded somewhere between heartbreak and laughter before pulling Marianne into a bone crushing hug. “Because we love you, dummy!”

Dorothea wrapped her arms around them both, completing what was probably the most comfortable group hug Marianne had ever experienced. “And we’re not going to let anything happen to you ever again, you hear?”

Marianne nodded, a mournful laugh escaping her lips. “Okay.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thoughts?


	11. (Edelgard)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “I just couldn’t figure out where until Hilda told me about the other night. And then it clicked!” Claude snapped his fingers to add emphasis to his words. He jabbed a finger at the professor, his smile taking over his features. “You’re the Ashen Demon.”
> 
> “I mean, yeah,” the professor said nonchalantly. She shifted her weight again before narrowing her gaze at Claude once more, a playful smirk tugging at the corners of her mouth. “Did you think that was some sort of secret?”
> 
> Claude’s mouth opened and closed a few times. “I’m not gonna lie, this was not how I thought this conversation was gonna go.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> come say hi over on twitter and instagram (@bridgetserdock)

Doodling was a favored pastime of Edelgard’s. It was effortless. Mindless even. She’d even go so far as to say it was soothing. She needs only some paper and a pencil. Or maybe a pen. A crayon, even. She could let her mind wander, losing herself to the image in front of her.

Despite that, she still wouldn’t venture as far as to say she was an artist. Not a real one, at least. She just liked to doodle every now and again. She certainly wasn’t as good as Ignatz. Or Bernadetta. She was just okay.

Edelgard had notebooks upon notebooks that she’d filled far too quickly because she would doodle all across the page. She would doodle during particularly boring classes. Or when she showed up early for a meeting and had extra time, but didn’t want to look at her phone. Or when, like today, Professor Eisner was once again drawn into some irrelevant conversation about who knows what by her classmates.

Which was, admittedly, a regular occurence. Not to say that Byleth - err - the professor was easily distracted. Edelgard’s classmates were just unreasonably good at derailing any conversation they entered. Edelgard was fairly certain that they managed to get By--the professor off topic today by bringing up the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.

Edelgard wasn’t much of a fan. So she doodled. Absent-mindedly.

“Is that the professor?” Dorothea practically squealed directly into her ear.

Edelgard scrambled to cover her notebook, immediately. Her neck burned so hot she was sure it would set her clothes on fire. She shot an accusing glance at Dorothea who only smirked in response.

“It’s just a doodle,” she hissed in response.

But it was in fact a doodle of the professor. Of a picture of the professor that Edelgard may have spent a little too long looking at. It was an image she couldn’t get out of her head, least of all when she was actually looking at the professor. So yes. She did doodle it. The professor, that is.

“Just a doodle?” Dorothea laughed. She kept her voice low, thankfully. Somehow neither of them had drawn anyone else’s attention. Yet. “There was an awful lot of shading on those arms for something that’s just a doodle.”

“Your point?”

“The likeness is uncanny,” Hubert said from her right.

The burning in Edelgard’s neck crept up to her cheeks. She turned on Hubert. His harsh eyes were focused forward as if he actually cared about the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.

“Hubert!” Edelgard whispered in shock. She couldn’t seem to think of anything else to say, so surprised that he would get behind Dorothea on this.

With her attention diverted, Dorothea seized on the opportunity to try and sneak another glance at the doodle. She tugged at the notebook under Edelgard’s arms, nearly pulling it from her grasp. Edelgard gripped the notebook tighter and yanked it farther from Dorothea, giving her tablemates both warning looks.

“It looked a little like that picture you showed me last week,” Dorothea whispered.

Edelgard’s nostrils flared as the burning sensation in her skin somehow seemed to get even hotter. She shook her head at Dorothea subtly. She hoped desperately she would get her meaning. More than that, she hoped she would listen.

Hubert’s head whipped around to them, eyes narrowed. “What picture?”

“Nothing,” Edelgard hissed.

Dorothea sighed dejectedly. “Edie swore me to secrecy. I’m sorry, Hubie, but I can’t tell a soul.”

Hubert turned his attention to Edelgard then. “You told Dorothea and not me?”

“You don’t even know what I told Dorothea. It could be nothing,” Edelgard said.

“So you did tell her something?” Hubert even attempted a pout. Or at least his version of a pout, which was simply letting the muscles in his face relax enough so that he wasn’t scowling.

“Oh, it’s juicy, too, Hubie. It’ll change your whole view of our dear Edie,” Dorothea teased.

“Dorothea!” Edelgard gasped. She was running out of ways to derail their onslaught.

“Considering how red her complexion is, I wouldn’t be surprised by that at all.”

Edelgard buried her face in her arms, simultaneously blocking them from seeing her blush and hiding the doodle on the page even more. Their mutual snickering at her back certainly didn’t help with the creeping heat rising to the top of her head. If only this class would end so she could hide the doodle in the scuffle of moving books and bags.

As if on cue, it was then that the door to their classroom was flung open with the vigor and flare of an over exuberant stage performer. All conversation and noise stopped immediately at the intrusion and all heads turned to the door. Even Edelgard’s, despite her desire to keep her doodle hidden.

“I’ve figured it out!”

It was Claude.  _ Of course _ it was Claude.

He stood in the now open doorway with his hands placed confidently at his hips. He wore ripped jeans that hung just a little too low on his waist. The amber flannel he wore made him nearly glow in the sunlight slanting in from the window. With the sleeves rolled up, it displayed his defined forearms for the whole world to see. The white graphic tee beneath the flannel had a symbol on it that looked more than a little familiar to Edelgard, she just couldn’t quite place it seeing as it was half-hidden behind his flannel.

“Claude?” Edelgard heard Lysithea balk from the front of the room.

“Mr. Riegan,” Byleth said flatly. “Is there a reason you’re interrupting my class right now?”

Claude’s face visibly paled. His hands dropped to his side. “Wait, I thought--” He hastily fished around in his large pockets for his phone. When he finally managed to pull it back out to check the screen he lifted his eyes to Byl--Professor Eisner once more. “Class ended five minutes ago. I made sure I waited.”

The professor’s blue eyes went wide and she glanced down at her computer. “Guess it has.” Her gaze lifted to the students in front of her. She was outright ignoring Claude’s outburst at this point. “Sorry for keeping you all, you’re free to go.”

“Ahem!” Claude said impatiently. The professor slowly lifted her eyes to him, the barest hint of a smile evident on her face. “I’ve figured it out,” Claude repeated.

The professor was halfway through packing up her own belongings, but she stopped. She shifted her weight from foot to foot. Her arms crossed over her chest and she quirked a brow up at him. “Well? What is it you’ve figured out?”

The entire class was moving much slower now. None of them had anywhere to be just yet. Sure, there was lunch to get to, but this was far more intriguing.

“Where I’ve seen you before. See, I knew you looked familiar when we met in the science building two weeks ago.”

Professor Eisner nodded, that soft smile still plain for all to see. “Yes, you did mention something about that.”

Claude continued with his story as if she hadn’t said anything. “I just couldn’t figure out where until Hilda told me about--” he cut himself off suddenly. His green eyes flashed toward the back of the room where Edelgard sat. She thought he was looking at her at first, but following his gaze it was clear he’d glanced at Dorothea. For her part, Dorothea barely even reacted. She just continued staring as if he hadn’t even looked at her. “--the other night. And then it clicked!” Claude snapped his fingers to add emphasis to his words. He jabbed a finger at the professor, his smile taking over his features. “You’re  _ the Ashen Demon _ .”

Edelgard felt the color draining from her face. That’s where she’d seen the logo on his shirt before. It was the logo that the professor bore on her clothing in almost all the pictures Edelgard had found of her. It was synonymous with  _ the Ashen Demon _ . With Byleth.

How did he figure that out? Did Dorothea tell Hilda? Did Hilda tell Claude? Does everyone know already? Could Byleth trace it back to Edelgard?

The professor’s smile persisted, but there was a tightness to it now. She flashed a glance at Edelgard, one that twisted her stomach up painfully. Edelgard had no idea what that look meant. It was impossible to get a read on the professor. It happened so fast, too, that Edelgard tried to convince herself that it wasn’t meant for her. Whatever the look meant, it wasn’t about her. She was  _ not _ about to have a poor relationship with her professor.

“I mean, yeah,” the professor said nonchalantly. She shifted her weight again before narrowing her gaze at Claude once more, a playful smirk tugging at the corners of her mouth. “Did you think that was some sort of secret?”

Claude’s mouth opened and closed a few times. “I’m not gonna lie, this was not how I thought this conversation was gonna go.”

“And this was not a conversation I thought I’d be having today,” Professor Eisner returned. She dropped her arms to place her hands on the lectern in front of her. She leaned against it languidly. Her gaze dragged over the students before her. All of them (minus Edelgard and Dorothea) were at a loss for what was going on. “I’m assuming you all want an explanation now?”

“Yes!” Lysithea said with an anxious shake of her head. “Of course we want an explanation.”

Byleth took in a deep breath. Her gaze flickered to Edelgard once more before exhaling sharply. “When I got out of college, I enrolled in a grad program that was far too expensive for me. It was incredibly prestigious and would set me up pretty well for the career I  _ thought _ I wanted. But I  _ needed _ to make more money if I wanted to actually do it. And there was one thing I was really good at and had been doing since I was six years old. And that’s fighting people.” She paused here to let that sink in. “There was this small fighting ring not too far from Remire that was funded by the college. I entered. And within a week I was the top fighter. I’d beaten everyone.

“I got a sponsor shortly after that. Toured the country for a while entering MMA fights. I only ever entered competitions and tournaments sanctioned by the Seiros Committee. They have strict safety regulations. No head shots allowed in a fight. Ever. Fighters can enter up to two fights a week, three if there’s a tournament. Stuff like that. Soon enough, I was going all over the world. Just… fighting random people.

“I got the name  _ Ashen Demon _ pretty early on, after my third or fourth fight. Because I don’t exactly display a lot of emotion. Even less so in a fight. And it... well, it scared people.” She shrugged. “I finished my Master’s about… oh, three years after graduating college? By that point I was already travelling internationally and fighting some of the best fighters in the world. I wasn’t ready to slow down just yet. So I kept that up a few more years. But I was getting tired. And my dad was getting old and lonely. I needed to stop. On my own terms. Before I got hurt. So… here I am.” Her blue eyes flickered over to Claude with an arched brow. “Now are you going to tell me why you burst in here like someone lit your ass on fire just to announce that you  _ figured out _ what I used to do?”

Claude blinked at her. “I kind of just put it together, honestly. I wanted to catch you before you left for the day,” he admitted.

She chuckled at him with a shake of her head. “That’s one way to do that, I suppose.”

“So are you, like, famous?” Caspar asked from the front row.

Byleth nodded. “In certain circles.” Her eyes scoured the classroom, a silent warning in them. “But that’s enough of that for now. I will see you all on Wednesday. Don’t forget to check Blackboard for your homework later.” She looked at Claude again. “And Claude, do me a favor. The next time you want to talk to me about something, come to my office hours instead.”

“Sure thing,  _ Ashen Demon _ ,” he said with a wink.

Her face dropped. “Don’t call me that.”

“You got it, teach.”

She let out an exasperated sigh, but made no motion to correct him.

The class filed out of the room slowly today. Linhardt tried plying Professor Eisner for more answers about her past, but she wasn’t offering any. She simply told him he could Google her if he really wanted to know more.

Edelgard found herself hanging back. The knot in her stomach still hasn’t gone away since Claude first burst into their class. She knew she wouldn’t be able to enjoy lunch if she waited much longer, not with practice right after. But she also knew she’d feel this constant overwhelming guilt if she didn’t hang back and speak to B-- Professor Eisner. Now.

“Are you coming, Edie?” Dorothea asked.

She and Hubert were standing halfway between Edelgard and the door to their classroom. They both offered her an expectant glance.

“I’ll meet you guys at Myrddin,” Edelgard said. “I want to talk to the professor real quick.”

“Alright…” Hubert said, exchanging a sideways glance with Dorothea. “We’ll see you there, I guess.”

She nodded in answer, her gaze falling to Professor Eisner at the front of the room.

As everyone else left the classroom, Edelgard slowly put her books back in her bag. She made sure to take her time so that she’d be the last one in the room. It was one thing to stick around and wait to talk to your professor alone, it was another thing altogether to hover and wait for said professor to be ready to speak with you. So her solution, naturally, was to stall until they were alone. Or, until she could build up the courage to go over and talk to her. Whichever came second.

After what was probably far too long, she gathered her bearings and walked to the front of the classroom. Byleth gratefully didn’t look directly at her, though Edelgard was certain the professor was eyeing her in her peripheries. Their eyes didn’t connect until Edelgard stood just before her.

“What’s up, Edelgard?” the older woman asked easily. She was still packing her own belongings.

“I just… I want you to know that I’m not the one who told Claude who you really are. I haven’t told anyone.”

The professor smiled at Edelgard calmly. “I know. He really did figure it out on his own, believe it or not.”

“Oh, I’d believe it. I just… I wanted to make sure you knew.”

“Don’t worry, Edelgard. I wouldn’t expect you to tell anyone. Especially since you’re the one who told me I should keep my name a secret in the first place.”

Edelgard felt her cheeks burning, realizing for the first time that the predicament she found herself in was one of her own making. Especially since she just lied about it. She’d told Dorothea. “Well, I-- I just thought that… that you might not want your students to call you by your first name. That’s all.”

Byleth chuckled under her breath. “You’re certainly not wrong. The last thing I need is to look like I’m another student. I already look like I’m your age. If you started calling me by my first name, it wouldn’t help on that front.”

“It was just advice, that’s all.”

Byleth laughed again, this time a bit louder and more earnestly. “Relax, Edelgard. I’m not blaming you. It was good advice. I just underestimated Claude.”

It was Edelgard’s turn to laugh. But it sounded far more nervous than she’d intended for it to. “Yeah, you shouldn’t really underestimate Claude. Ever.”

“Oh, I won’t make that mistake again,” Byleth said with an exaggerated nod of her head.

Byleth reached around the lectern to grab her notes off the desk beside it. She stuffed the notes and her laptop into her bag before zipping it up. She turned to Edelgard once more with a narrowed gaze. She looked Edelgard up and down once.

“Is there something else you wanted to ask?” She finally asked.

There was. Edelgard swallowed thickly. “I… I knew what you did before. Obviously. But… I don’t know why you stopped. Or, I guess why you came  _ here _ . Seems like quite the jump if you ask me. So I guess I’m wondering why you took a job here?”

The professor nodded. She leaned back against the lectern again. She crossed her arms once more. “Back in May, I went to a tournament up in Boston. I was slated to come in tenth place at the tournament. I placed first by default.”

Edelgard scrunched her nose up at that. “By default?” She couldn’t stop herself before the question had spilled out.

Byleth simply nodded, her eyes downcast, not at all perturbed by the line of questioning. “I got knocked out. It was the first time it had ever happened. The girl who should’ve gotten first place hit me so hard I ended up in the hospital. But it was a head shot, so she was disqualified. When I came to, I was all alone. It was  _ terrifying _ .” She let out a shaky breath. Her fingers dug into her arms and she forced herself to look directly at Edelgard. The intensity in that gaze was almost overwhelming. “The first visitor I had wasn’t my dad, though. It was Professor Rangeld.”

Edelgard’s eyes went wide. “Alois?”

“He was at the tournament with his wife and daughter. When he heard that one of the fighters was going to hospital, he thought nothing of it. Then he heard it was me and he rushed up to the hospital. He kept me company until my dad could get there. I hadn’t seen him since I was a kid. Younger than his daughter is now, probably. But he was just… there for me, you know? I’d never really had that from anyone that wasn’t family before.” She ran a hand through her blue hair. “My dad had been telling me for a while it might be time to quit. I didn’t want to listen until then.

“Alois gave me his card that weekend. Told me to call if I ever needed anything.” She paused to offer a mischievous smile to Edelgard. “He specifically said if I needed a job. After that hit, I didn’t want to go back to fighting. I thought it would just be for a little while, but I haven’t had the urge to get back into it just yet. And it’s been months. So I didn’t hesitate to reach out and ask for a job.”

Edelgard’s brow knit in confusion. “I thought… you told the class you wanted to stop on your own terms.  _ Before _ you got hurt.”

The other woman let out a noise that was somewhere between an earnest laugh and a despondent sigh. “Yeah, well, I’d been hurt multiple times throughout my career as a fighter. That was just a nasty hit. And I had a feeling more were coming. So, I figured it was best to get out when I had the chance.” She shrugged. “But I knew I’d need another job once I was done, so Alois’s timing couldn’t have been better.”

“Don’t MMA fighters get paid really well, though?” Edelgard said. “Did you really need another job?”

Byleth smiled softly. “Oh, I was paid  _ quite  _ well. Which is why I can comfortably live out here while only teaching one class. Besides, my dad always loved teaching. It was one of his favorite things. I figured it was worth a shot.”

Edelgard knew that this conversation should be worrying to her. She should be concerned by how little thought her professor had put into this; by how little experience she had. But if anything, it only endeared her to Byleth more.

“So you became a professor on a whim?” she teased.

“Well, when you put it like that, it sounds kinda bad,” Byleth returned.

“There aren’t that many MMA fighters turned homely college professors out there. Can you blame me?”

“ _ Homely _ ?” Byleth laughed. “I’ll have you know, I am not even close to having settled down yet. I’m not the type to sit comfortably at a breakfast nook and read Jane Austen.”

Edelgard rolled her eyes. “Virginia Woolf, then.”

Byleth opened her mouth to counter. But when she couldn’t, she closed her mouth. Her lips pursed into a thin line, but her eyes told another story. There was a smile hidden in there. “I feel like I should be insulted by the insinuation there.”

“Are you?”

There was a pause. Byleth’s expression didn’t change as she thought it over. But there was a noticeable shift, not one that Edelgard could place. But there was a shift nonetheless. “No,” she decided.

She leaned off the lectern and grabbed her bag off the desk. As she did, Edelgard suddenly remembered she had to go get lunch with Dorothea and Hubert. Dorothea would not forgive her if she ditched her again this soon. Edelgard took a step back from both Professor Eisner and the lectern, hiking her backpack higher on her back.

“As fun as this has been, Edelgard, I do have to get to lunch. Catherine’s insisting on having team lunches every Monday from now until the end of the semester and she will kill me if I’m late,” Byleth said.

“You joined the softball league?” Edelgard asked.

Byleth stepped past her, but she held her gaze, walking backwards to the door. “I was kind of dragged into it, yeah.”

Edelgard followed after her. “It’s not that bad. Some of the faculty that play are older. It’s not like you’re playing Division 1 athletes.”

“I guess.” Byleth shrugged noncommittally. “Softball has never really been my sport.”

Edelgard stifled a laugh. “Not enough contact for you?”

The professor shot her a fake apprehensive glance. “I should’ve just given you a fake name on that first day.”

“Claude would’ve let the cat out of the bag eventually.”

Professor Eisner sighed. She looked straight ahead with a bit of a 1000 yard stare. “Yeah, he would’ve.” Her blue eyes flicked over to Edelgard again. She had stopped walking, coming to a diverging point in their paths. “I’ll see you Wednesday, Edelgard.”

Edelgard nodded at Byleth. “See you Wednesday, my teacher.”

Byleth chuckled at that, shaking her head. She lifted a hand as a way of goodbye before walking off to her office. Edelgard turned on the spot, picking up her pace on the way to Myrddin. She had about twenty minutes to get food before she’d have to book it to the field house. She pulled out her phone to text Hubert (Dorothea would ignore her since she’d dawdled for so long with the professor).

_ Can you grab me a burger? I’ll owe you one! _

His reply was almost instant.  _ Of course _ .

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thoughts?


	12. (Rhea)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “I… was thinking of starting a self defense class,” Byleth said.
> 
> Rhea took a deep, steadying breath. “Do you think it’s a good idea?”
> 
> Byleth nodded, glancing off to the side. “Well, yeah.”
> 
> “Do you think people will sign up for it?”
> 
> “I do.” Byleth paused. Her blue eyes flashed to Rhea, her lips pulled into a thin line. “I think there’s a need for it.”
> 
> “What do you mean, Byleth? Did something… happen?” Rhea asked.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> bit of a shorter chapter this time, but this is the last of the immediate fallout chapters to follow ch 10, and there isn't much here to tell. not really
> 
> come say hi over on twitter and instagram (@bridgetserdock)

It was truly astounding just how many emails a Dean of Garreg Mach University could get in a single day. Of course, Rhea knew that would be a major part of the job when she took it on however long ago. She just hadn’t realized how much. Moreover, she didn’t realize how many useless and pointless emails she would get on the daily. It was mind numbing some days, just trying to sift through the minutia for a legitimately important email. Today was one of those days. So when there was a light knock on her door, she leapt at the opportunity to have something to look at that wasn’t another email from another angry parents about how they couldn’t see their child’s grades anymore.

“Come in,” she called, not caring that Cyril hadn’t given her a warning as to who it was.

_ He’s probably on lunch _ , she reasoned.

Her assistant was always good about filtering who came into her office and making sure she would only be seen by people she wanted and/or needed to. If someone had gotten past his defenses, they were either immensely important or he was on break. Sure, he normally told her when he went on break. But even he made mistakes.

When the door swung open, she was surprised to see Byleth Eisner standing there. She was so surprised and startled, she nearly forgot to look around the young professor to see if Cyril was sitting at his desk. Sure enough, he wasn’t.

“Professor,” Rhea said, struggling to find the right words.

She glanced down at her desk to her phone. She tapped the screen to see a text message from Cyril. She didn’t give herself the time to read it, but did make out the word  _ lunch _ in there. So he had told her he was leaving, she just wasn’t paying enough attention.

Her gaze snapped back to Byleth’s. “What a pleasant surprise.”

“Sorry to interrupt,” Byleth said. She bore a confident smile that was easy to return. “But I was hoping to get your advice on something.”

“Oh, well alright. Come on in.” Rhea waved her in. As Byleth stepped into the room, Rhea settled back into her chair. “Of course, you weren’t really interrupting anything. Just looking over some emails.”

Byleth let out a dry laugh, taking the chair directly across from Rhea. She reclined into the much harder chair, though her posture remained almost too perfect. “I get a lot of pointless emails and I’m only an adjunct. I can only imagine how many you get.”

“Probably even more than you’d imagine.” Rhea’s smile deepened at Byleth’s responsive chuckle. “What were you looking for advice on, Byleth?”

At that, Byleth sat up a bit straighter (as if that were possible). She shifted in her seat slightly and clapped her hands together in front of her. “I was looking to teach a new class.”

Rhea blinked at the younger professor. She was certain they’d already had this conversation. What sort of deja vu was this? Or was this a result of the younger woman’s head trauma months ago? Manuela had expressed concern that the injury was worse than Byleth had let on. Rhea had disregarded the notion at the time, but if Byleth was dealing with some sort of memory loss then something would need to be done.

“The one about practical applications outside the lab?” Rhea asked. It wasn’t worth the effort to jump to conclusions. Maybe if she asked Byleth directly, she could jog her memory a bit. “I thought we already okayed that...?” She turned to her computer ready to look for the emails she’d sent back and forth with the other Deans and the President. “We were going to start it next semester…”

“No, not that one,” Byleth said quickly. Rhea’s gaze fell over the younger woman again. Though her expression was largely unchanged, it was clear that there was something else going on in her mind. “I… was thinking of starting a self defense class.”

Rhea felt her eyes go wide. She crossed her arms and rocked back in her chair. “I’m pretty sure you’d want to talk to the phys ed department about that.”

“I don’t mean as like a college course or anything. I was thinking as a class. Like at a community center. But here on campus. So that way anyone could join, and there’s no curriculum. It’s just a way for people to learn how to defend themselves. Girls. Specifically.”

“Okay, well you’d want to talk to Gilbert or Shamir about that. They both work at the rec center. They could help you figure that out.”

“I know that,” Byleth said. Her brow knit together slightly. “I just… I want your advice on it.” Her eyes closed as she took in a deep breath. Her eyes snapped open again with a sharp exhale. “I want to make sure it’s a good idea. To do it this way. Or to do it, at all.”

It was Rhea’s turn to take a deep, steadying breath. She leaned forward and rested her forearms on her desk. She clasped her hands together and looked up at Byleth. “Do you think it’s a good idea?”

Byleth nodded, glancing off to the side. “Well, yeah.”

“Do you think people will sign up for it?”

“I do.” Byleth paused. Her blue eyes flashed to Rhea, her lips pulled into a thin line. There was a strange intensity to her gaze that Rhea couldn’t quite get a read on. Then again, she rarely could get a read on the young professor at all. “I think there’s a need for it.”

That was not the response Rhea had expected. She stared at Byleth for a long moment, eyes wide and unblinking. When the other woman’s expression remained unchanged, she forced herself to blink. She shook her head. She looked sternly at Byleth again, her brow knitting in confusion.

“What do you mean, Byleth? Did something… happen?” She asked.

“No, of course not.”

Based entirely on her inflection and relatively neutral expression, Rhea would like to believe that Byleth was telling the truth. But there was something off about this entire interaction. Something that she couldn’t put her finger on. Like there was some underlying context or meaning here that Byleth was hoping she’d pick on.

Rhea leaned forward again. “Byleth, if something happened to you or one of the students, you have a moral obligation to report it.”

“If something happened to me, I would report it without hesitation. If something happened to one of the students, someone who’s a legal adult with full autonomy over themselves and their life, I will leave it up to them to decide how to proceed. Even if I disagree. All I can hope to do is prevent something from happening to someone else.”

Rhea blinked at the professor. She knew Byleth had strong convictions. She also knew she had a strong moral compass. It’s part of the reason why she’d hired her. But this was unexpected to say the least. Whatever happened, it was clear that Rhea was not going to find out. Not from Byleth, at least.

“That’s an unpopular stance, Miss Eisner,” Rhea warned.

Byleth lifted her chin a little. “I’m aware.”

“Well, if something did happen, and that’s why you intend to start this class, then I think you have to do it. Obviously you don’t have to disclose that sort of information, but the proper authorities would like to know if there’s any threat to the student population. Or the general population of Fodlan for that matter.”

Byleth barely even blinked at what Rhea had said. “I don’t know what you’re talking about. I just want our students to feel safe here.”

Rhea took a deep breath and nodded. “As do I, Byleth.”

“So you think I should teach the class?” the younger woman asked. Any attempts at hiding her emotions or thoughts were abandoned at this point. She was no longer choosing her words carefully.

“I think you should. And you should make sure any student that feels unsafe attends. Or at least knows they’re welcome to.”

“Of course.” Byleth smiled, and while it felt earnest, based on this conversation alone it was clear Rhea couldn’t tell anymore. Or perhaps she never could. “Thank you.”

Byleth stood from the seat unceremoniously. She walked the few steps to the door and opened it. After getting it halfway open, she turned over her shoulder. Rhea was certain the younger woman was simply going to say  _ goodbye _ or  _ have a nice day _ or something to that effect. But from the way her brows pulled together, it was clear she had something else to say.

“I don’t want you to think I don’t trust you, Rhea. I just… I’ve seen how badly this can go if the person who experienced it doesn’t get to form the narrative. Or at least have a say in it. So it’s not that I don’t trust you or don’t want to tell you. I just can’t.”

Rhea felt her face soften at that. The air in her office seemed to lighten entirely and she let out a breath she hadn’t realized she’d been holding.

“I understand, Byleth,” she said. Any level of distrust she had just attained for Byleth slipped away immediately with that clarification. “It’s a delicate subject.”

Byleth smiled so broadly, Rhea swore she could see her eyes sparkle. “Thank you. I appreciate it. Really. You helped a lot.” She backed out of Rhea’s office. “I’m gonna go talk to Gilbert and Shamir about it now. Have a nice day, Rhea.”

“You too, Byleth.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thoughts?


	13. (Dedue)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “I’m sure you could come with if you wanted,” Dedue said.
> 
> Bernadetta blanched. “No, I think I’m good.”
> 
> “Are you sure? I doubt anyone would mind. I think Sylvain said he wanted to talk to you about… something called a ‘fic’, maybe?”
> 
> Somehow her face went even paler at that. “Yeah, you know, I just remembered, I have a cake to eat. I mean to bake. I have to bake a cake. For… class…”
> 
> Dedue’s face scrunched up at that. “You’re baking a cake? For class? What… what class do you need to bake a cake for?”
> 
> “It’s uh… an elective? And we’re just… you know… cakes?” Her eyes went wide for a moment and she spun around, nearly sprinting in the opposite direction. “Bye, Dedue!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i'm never not going to be disappointed that Dedue and Bernadetta don't have support convos... i think that's some quality content we've all been deprived of
> 
> come say hi on twitter/instagram (@bridgetserdock) or tumblr (@birdgetserdocksketches)

The horticulture lab was particularly quiet today. It always was on the weekends, which was why Dedue liked coming in here on weekends. Not to say he didn’t also like it when it was busier. He was just able to get more work down on the weekends. And, to be fair, he felt more comfortable with less people around. They always looked at him weird. Or said things about him that he was sure they didn’t fully understand. He liked to pretend it didn’t bother him but… well, there was a reason he came here more regularly on weekends.

The only other person who would consistently come here on weekends was Bernadetta.

The first time they were alone together in the lab, he scared her. He swears, she jumped fifteen feet in the air. It was a wonder she didn’t break the glass ceiling over their heads. She hadn’t expected him to be there, nor he her. But when he politely said ‘ _hello_ ’ to her from a safe distance away, it became abundantly clear that she was far more surprised than he was.

The second time went over about as well as the first. Only this time she threw a potted pitcher plant at his head. They had to work together to clean it up. Her hands shook the whole time. He didn’t know what to say. So he didn’t.

It wasn’t until about their sixth encounter within the horticulture lab that she finally didn’t scream or jump or break something. She managed to say hello to him and maintain eye contact. But their conversation didn’t go much farther than that. Not that it seemed to bother either of them.

Since then, they’ve both found themselves here on the weekends. Not quite every weekend, but damn near close to it. They still don’t talk much outside of ‘ _hello_ ’ or ‘ _can you pass me that?_ ’ or ‘ _did we run out of mulch?_ ’ Despite that, it was pleasant. Comforting, even. It wasn’t often Dedue felt comfortable around others, specifically in long stretches of silences. Or, rather, that they felt comfortable around him, specifically in long stretches of silences. But with each passing weekend it’s become more apparent that Bernadetta almost prefers it to being here alone.

This weekend was no different from any of the others. Bernadetta hung around the carnivorous plants, her favorites. She was taking detailed notes and drawings of the pinguicula conzattii and cape sundew in particular. Dedue, on the other hand, was tending to the herbs at the back of the room. He had gotten a text from Ashe the night prior asking about what herbs he could use to make something he called a “ _King of Beasts Steak_ ”. Dedue had listed off what herbs were in the horticulture lab, but Ashe refused to tell him what he was making in truth. He only said he’d drop by at some point today to collect the necessary ingredients. A quick Google search came up with nothing, so Dedue was at a complete loss.

So while, yes, Dedue had plenty of projects he could be working on around the lab, it was totally reasonable that he had spent the last hour or so making sure the herbs were well tended. He had to make sure his friend had the necessary ingredients. And more importantly that the necessary ingredients were in good condition.

He was making a third pass over the basil and thyme when he got another text from Ashe. The sound of a bowstring firing from his phone let him know who it was without looking. Absent-mindedly, Dedue placed the tool in his right hand down in order to reach over and grab his phone off the far table where he’d left it.

_I’m on my way over. You still there?_

Dedue glanced over to Bernadetta. She was still diligently sitting on her stool jotting down her notes. Or perhaps drawing a pitcher plant now. It was hard to tell.

 _I’m here. So is Bernadetta. Try not to scare her this time._ He typed in response.

Ashe’s response was instant. _I always try not to scare her._

With his gaze trained on Bernadetta, Dedue placed his phone back onto the table a bit louder than he normally would. Her head twitched at the sound. While her eyes never left the plant she was studying, her shoulders shifted enough to indicate she had turned her attention to Dedue.

“Ashe is coming over in a few minutes to collect some herbs,” Dedue announced.

Bernadetta took a few extra seconds to stare at the plant in front of her. Her gaze dragged ever so slowly away from it until she had committed to paper whatever she wanted to. “What was that, Dedue?” She asked.

“Ashe will be here shortly. He’s looking for some herbs,” Dedue said.

Her face scrunched up. “You’re standing by the herbs, aren’t you?”

It was hard to tell if Bernadetta was joking with him or not. Chances were good she wasn’t. “I just wanted to give you a heads up, Bernadetta.”

Her nose crinkled curiously. “Thanks, Dedue.” She looked back at her sketchbook again, glancing at the plant she had just drawn. “But I don’t need a warning. I’m not scared of Ashe.”

An all-too familiar voice chimed in at that in an all-too excited tone. “You’re not? Well, that’s a relief!”

“Aaagh!”

Much like the first time Dedue had found her in here, Bernadetta jumped so high she toppled over her stool and knocked about a few of the plants. Thankfully nothing broke. Nothing except for Bernadetta’s pride, perhaps.

“Ashe!” She scolded.

Ashe, who had appeared so abruptly at what could possibly be the worst possible timing for Bernadetta’s confidence, stood in the doorway stock still. His eyes were wide as he stared at Bernadetta. He held a thick book between himself and Bernadetta like a shield. Though it was probably for her benefit and not his.

“Bernadetta?” Ashe asked.

“Don’t sneak up on people like that! It was startling!”

“I didn’t mean to,” Ashe said, slowly lowering the book. It was clear now that it was a well-worn copy of _The Hobbit_. The cover was torn slightly and the title was all but illegible. Dedue only recognized it because of how often he’d found Ashe reading it. “I said hello at the door. A few times actually. But you two seemed caught up in conversation.”

Dedue hadn’t heard him say hello, but he didn’t doubt him. Ashe never lied. The entrance was far enough away from Dedue’s station that he likely just couldn’t hear him. And if Ashe was trying not to scare Bernadetta, he would’ve kept his voice low.

“I guess you couldn’t hear me...” Ashe trailed off.

Bernadetta’s cheeks burned brightly. She turned away from him to pick up her stool. “Just don’t do it again…”

“Right,” Ashe said. His eyes slid over to Dedue and an easy smile spread across his face. “Hi, Dedue! Let’s get those herbs, yeah?”

Dedue returned the smile. “Yes, let’s.”

Together, Dedue and Ashe walked along the back table where all the herbs were well within reach. Ashe would point out certain herbs asking what they were and Dedue would tell him. It took a bit longer than Dedue would’ve expected, but Ashe ended up with what he needed. A few sprigs of rosemary, thyme, garlic, basil, parsley, and sage. He packaged each in careful plastic bags which were then carefully placed in a metal tin.

Once it was put away, he gave Dedue a broad smile. “Thank you, Dedue.”

“You’re welcome, Ashe. What are the herbs for?”

“Family dinner. Tomorrow. 7:00pm.”

Dedue blinked at Ashe. “We’re still doing that?”

“Yep!”

“But we don’t all live together anymore. Won’t that be harder?”

Ashe nodded sagely. “But we’re still doing it. Time to get back to our roots.”

“And everyone can make it?” Dedue asked with an arch of his brow.

“Everyone was invited. We’ll see if everyone makes it.” Ashe tilted his head at Dedue. “You’re coming, right?”

“I would like to, yes. Where are we having it?”

“Sylvain’s apartment. He has the biggest kitchen”

“That seems reasonable.”

“Great!” Ashe smiled again. “I’ll see you tomorrow, Dedue.” He turned around and walked out of the lab. On his way out, he waved to Bernadetta. “Goodbye, Bernadetta,” he said with much less enthusiasm.

Her head snapped around to look at Ashe. There was fear in that gaze, but at least she wasn’t knocking anything over this time. “Goodbye, Ashe.”

With Ashe’s departure, Bernadetta and dedue finished up their projects quickly. Or rather, Dedue was actually able to start his. The experiment that Professor Hanneman had given him for the week was a rather simple one. He breezed through it, managing to finish up around the same time that Bernadetta did.

On their walk out, she showed him her notes within her sketchbook. Her horticulture notes were some of the most beautiful notes Dedue had ever seen. Not only was her penmanship perfect, but her sketches were immaculate. It looked like he could reach out and hold the foliage within. He didn’t find the carnivorous plants as interesting as Bernadetta did, but he certainly found them more interesting after looking at her sketches.

They were reaching the quad, the spot where their paths diverged, when Bernadetta stopped walking in order to put her sketchbook back in her bag.

“You guys are doing family dinner again?” She asked, evidently paying more attention to him and Ashe than she let on.

“We are, apparently,” Dedue admitted. “We haven’t had family dinner since sophomore year. With Professor Casagranda.” While Manuela insisted her students call her by her first name, Dedue always found that uncomfortable. No matter how much the professor insisted, Dedue just couldn’t bring himself to do it. “She used to do the cooking back then. I guess Ashe is taking over.”

“Wow, I wish we did stuff like that still,” Bernadetta said airily.

Dedue cocked his head to the side at her. “You don’t?”

“Not really,” Bernadetta said. “I mean, we do stuff when the whole department gets together. But we barely do anything with just the physics majors.”

“I’m sure you could come with if you wanted,” Dedue said.

Bernadetta blanched. “No, I think I’m good.”

“Are you sure? I doubt anyone would mind. I think Sylvain said he wanted to talk to you about… something called a ‘ _fic_ ’, maybe?”

Somehow her face went even paler at that. “Yeah, you know, I just remembered, I have a cake to eat. I mean to bake. I have to bake a cake. For… class…”

Dedue’s face scrunched up at that. “You’re baking a cake? For class? What… what class do you need to bake a cake for?”

Bernadetta was already backpedaling in the direction of her dorm. She was making wild gestures with her arms that made no sense to Dedue. “It’s uh… an elective? And we’re just… you know… cakes?” Her eyes went wide for a moment and she spun around, nearly sprinting in the opposite direction. “Bye, Dedue!”

Dedue stood there for a few moments, just staring after her retreating form. “Bye?”

He _was_ certain he was getting closer to understanding Bernadetta. But today, like most days with her, she proved yet again that he truly knew nothing about her. With a simple shake of his head, he turned left and headed toward his dorm.

* * *

Ashe didn’t exactly tell Dedue how formal an event family dinner was going to be. When Manuela used to host, they would have to dress up. It wasn’t a black tie affair, but she did kick out Sylvain once for wearing jeans. When Dedue asked Dimitri how dressed up they had to get, he wasn’t exactly given a direct answer. Mainly because it seemed Dimitri didn’t even realize the dinner Sylvain had been talking about for the past few days was for family dinner. When Dedue asked Ashe, he was told he didn’t have to dress as nice as Manuela wanted but sweatpants were a no go.

Still vague, but it was at least something to work with.

He decided on a pair of black wash jeans, a white dress shirt, and a teal suit vest. He stood before his mirror and futzed with the look for much longer than he’d admit to anyone. Once he felt he looked casual enough to stroll down to Sylvain, Felix, and Dimitri’s apartment, he left.

Ashe had told him (in a group chat with everyone else invited) not to bring anything, that he and Annette had the food situation covered. But since he made no mention of the drink situation, Dedue reasoned it was safe to stop at a liquor store and grab a bottle or two of wine. He wasn’t entirely sure what Ashe was making, but based on the herbs he’d picked up and the fact it sounded like he was making a steak (it wouldn’t be the first time Ashe had called something a steak that was very much not) Dedue grabbed two bottles of red. One dry, one sweet. Chances were good that at least one would pair well with what Ashe was cooking.

Dedue made it to their apartment early, as per usual, but he wasn’t the first one there. Ashe and Annette were early to start cooking, naturally. That made sense. Sylvain and Dimitri were there as well, which was also reasonable - they lived there. But of course Ingrid had already gotten there as did Mercedes. The only person not there yet was Felix. Which was a surprise to no one.

Ingrid was the one to answer the door for Dedue. She wore a pair of light wash denim shorts with soft rips in them, a loose, white tee tucked into her pants. Over the shirt, she wore a mint green blazer with the sleeves rolled up a bit.

“Hey, Dedue,” she said coolly. With a wave of her hand, she turned around and started climbing the stairs to the boys’ apartment. “Great timing, dinner’s almost ready.”

“Am I the last one here?” Dedue asked. Even from the entryway, he could hear just how loud it was upstairs.

“Nah, Felix is still out. And Dimitri might be in the apartment, but he hasn’t left his room yet.”

Dedue smiled softly. “Let me guess, he’s working on a lab?”

Ingrid’s snicker was almost imperceptible it was so quiet, but Dedue heard it all the same. “When is he not?” She glanced over her shoulder to Dedue when they reached the top of the stairs. “Maybe you can convince him to abandon it for the evening?”

“Doubtful. But I can get him to take a break, probably,” Dedue admitted.

Ingrid sighed exaggeratedly. “I’ll take it.”

“Dedue!” Annette called from the kitchen. Now that Ingrid and Dedue had made it into the actual apartment, they could finally all see him. Annette stood beside Mercedes, both covered in a fine layer of flour. Or perhaps sugar. “You brought wine!”

“Dedue, I said you didn’t need to bring anything,” Ashe said, appearing seemingly out of nowhere. He took both bottles from Dedue’s hand and inspected them carefully. He lifted his gaze to Dedue with an arch of his brow. “How much did this cost you?”

Before Dedue could answer, Ingrid placed a firm hand on Ashe’s shoulder. “Does it matter? The only other alcohol in this apartment is fireball.”

“Fireball _and_ Four Loko!” Sylvain corrected from farther in the kitchen.

Ingrid shot an icy look in his direction. “Are you actively trying to prove my point?”

Sylvain’s chest puffed out. “I’m just saying, we have more than _just_ _fireball_ in our apartment, okay?”

Dedue turned his attention to Ashe again, doing his best to ignore Ingrid and Sylvain’s spat. He leaned toward him a bit so they could hear each other better. “Where’s Dimitri?”

Ashe let out an exasperated sigh. He jostled with the two bottles of wine in order to pinch the bridge of his nose. “He’s still in his room. Said he probably won’t come out in time for dinner.” He lowered his hand again and readjusted the wine. He lifted his green eyes to Dedue. “Maybe you can talk some sense into him.”

Dedue sighed and shrugged. “I can certainly try.”

Needing no further instruction, Dedue strode across the dining room and down the hall to Dimitri’s room. He could see a faint sliver of light coming out from under the shut door. Dimitri likely hadn’t turned the lights on yet and was still sitting behind his lit computer screen. Dedue was willing to bet he hadn’t left his room in hours after getting back from volunteering at the daycare center this morning.

Dedue knocked on the door. He waited a few moments, leaning toward the door trying to hear Dimitri’s answer over the noise coming from the kitchen and dining room. When none came, he knocked once more. He waited again. When only silence answered, he opened the door and stepped inside.

Dedue was right in assuming Dimitri still hadn’t turned the lights on. He sat in what would otherwise be complete darkness, in his overly large desk chair, leaning toward his computer screen. It was hard to tell just how long he’d been sitting there, but based on the two empty water bottles on his desk Dedue was willing to guess it had been a while. At least he was wearing his blue light glasses today. His eyes would be completely destroyed if he hadn’t. If they weren’t already. That man just never knew when to quit.

“I already told you, Sylvain, I’m not taking shots of fireball with you before dinner,” Dimitri said without turning around.

“Well, that is a relief, but I’m not here to ask about taking shots with you,” Dedue answered.

He watched as Dimitri sat up completely straight. He spun his chair around quickly, slamming a foot down in order to stop himself. His eyes went wide behind the refractive lenses. “Dedue. Did… did dinner start already?”

“Not just yet,” Dedue said.

He looked Dimitri over once. He was still wearing the same clothes from breakfast which meant he hadn’t changed since volunteering. Dimitri’s blond hair was getting out of control as long strands fell into his face. He needed to either figure out how to manage it like Dedue and Felix could, or just cut it. He was beginning to look unruly.

“You might want to get changed,” Dedue said, not pointing out exactly what for.

Dimitri let out a deep laugh. He ran a hand through his hair, somehow making it look even more wild. “Are we all dressing up tonight?”

Dedue nodded. “Yes, we are. Ashe isn’t even wearing a hoodie.”

Dimitri’s blue eyes went wide. “Really?”

Dedue nodded.

“Well, in that case, I may as well wear a three piece suit.”

Dedue did not doubt that Dimitri had one hidden somewhere in his closet. “I think that might be overkill.”

“You’re probably right.” Dimitri swung his chair to the side, glancing over at his closet reproachfully. His eyes flashed to his computer once more. “I should probably get this lab done…”

“You’ll have time after dinner.”

Dedue watched Dimitri’s shoulders rise and fall dramatically. Dimitri let out a sigh before getting to his feet. He stretched his arms, back and legs in one fluid motion with a laborious grunt. “You’re right.” He turned and flashed a smile at Dedue. “I’ll get changed into something a bit more presentable.”

Dedue smiled triumphantly. “Good.” He turned around and walked back out of the room. He stopped halfway in the doorway to turn around to Dimitri. “Oh, and I brought wine.”

Dimitri’s eyes went wide. “You mean we have something other than fireball tonight?”

“Fireball and Four Loko,” Dedue corrected.

Dimitri rolled his eyes. “You’re spending too much time with Sylvain.”

“Perhaps you’re not spending enough time with him.”

“Yeah, you’re _definitely_ spending too much time with Sylvain.”

Dedue smiled. “Maybe.”

With a shrug of his shoulders, Dedue turned and shut the door behind him. He returned to the dining area to find that things hadn’t changed much. Only now, Ingrid and Sylvain were arguing about some girl while setting the table. Ashe was back in the kitchen chatting idly with Mercedes and Annette while all three were working around each other on whatever it was they were still cooking.

Dedue was called over to help once they realized he was done with Dimitri. Somehow, all six of them managed to get the table set and ready without breaking anything or running into each other; a fact that Annette was particularly proud of.

Not long after they finished setting up, Dimitri came out of his room. He wore a simple pair of blue jeans and a black dress shirt. He had the sleeves rolled up and the top few buttons undone. He even went so far as to pull his hair out of his face using a hair tie that Dedue was surprised he owned. He wasn’t the only one surprised. Both Ingrid and Sylvain teased him for wearing actual clothes to dinner for once.

Just as they were all sitting down for dinner, Felix strolled in. Sylvain and Ingrid chewed him out for being late, asking where he was for so long. He evaded the question and said something about actually being here this time, which was fair for Felix. He didn’t often care for family dinner. He only ever showed up because he knew Sylvain and Ingrid would never let him live it down.

Dinner was served almost immediately after Ingrid got everyone seated.

The King of Beasts Steak that Ashe had mentioned was in fact a steak, and thankfully both wines that Dedue had brought went exceptionally well with it. Ashe had seared the steak with garlic, rosemary and thyme. He also made some amazing sauce that he refused to share the recipe for; Dedue was certain he used a bit of basil and some sage. Mercedes made hasselback sweet potatoes in a garlic butter herb sauce. There were also some other vegetables (asparagus, broccoli, carrots, and squash) seared in the same spices and sauce as the steak.

It was a simple meal, all things considered, but delicious. As always.

Somewhere around nine - not long after they finished the wine - dessert was brought out. Annette and Mercedes had made three dishes: a raspberry cream pie, cinnamon roll cake, and blueberry cheesecake cups.

Not long after they devoured dessert - and just before Sylvain grabbed the fireball insisting on shots - they started to pack everything back up. Part of the family dinner tradition that Manuela started was that everyone had to help with the cleanup. Her rule was that everyone but the cook helped (because she hated cleaning). But whenever they’d done it without her, whoever cooked the meals (normally either Ashe or Dedue) would still insist on cleaning. So they all worked together to pack it away. And that meant they could all escape Sylvain’s demands for shots as a single cohesive unit. Everyone minus Dimitri and Felix who made what some might consider a mistake when they decided to live with him.

Dedue and Ashe parted ways with the girls after only a block. The three of them lived in the same apartment building about two blocks from the boys’ apartment. Dedue and Ashe were both RA’s and lived in separate dorms on opposite sides of campus.

Dedue’s arms were full of the pots and pans that Ashe had brought with him (the boys in that apartment barely know how to boil water and have a single pot between them). Ashe, on the other hand, only had two tupperware containers full of leftovers from the meal.

“You don’t have to carry all that for me, Dedue,” Ashe said.

“I know,” Dedue returned.

“We could’ve left those at Sylvain’s apartment. I could’ve just gone back to get them another time.”

Dedue glanced at Ashe over the top of the pots and pans in his arms. “I’m aware.”

Ashe scrunched his face up, likely attempting to look stern. “Dedue.”

“Ashe.”

“You live on the opposite side of campus. There’s no reason for you to go out of your way to help me.”

“What if I want to? Is that not reason enough?”

Ashe’s eyes went wide. There was a pink dusting on his cheeks now. He swallowed hard and turned away from Dedue. “Umm, I-I guess.”

Dedue stared straight ahead with a soft smile. But he wasn’t looking where he was going. He kept his eye on Ashe and that slowly creeping flush taking over his face. “Good.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thoughts?


	14. (Hilda)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Hilda, I already told you. I’m spending the day with my father,” Marianne said.
> 
> “What?! No!” Hilda whined. “Come on, I don’t want to be alone with my brother. What are we supposed to talk about?” 
> 
> “I’m sure you’ll manage.”
> 
> “How’m I supposed to hold up a conversation with him? I already tell him everything during our weekly phone calls.”
> 
> Marianne leveled her with a gaze. “I don’t know why you think I’ll be able to help with that.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> bit of a shorter chapter, but it's family weekend and there are a lot of families to get through
> 
> come say hi on twitter/instagram (bridgetserdock) or on tumblr (bridgetserdocksketches)

Having Marianne move into her room was possibly the best decision Hilda made. Like, ever. Sure, the reason why was… was really bad. But she couldn’t deny how great it had turned out for her.

Well, Marianne was still a bit of a mess. Her clothes were everywhere and she hardly ever cleaned up after herself, but Hilda knew that going into it. That just meant she had to work extra hard to keep her room cleaned. And if she was lucky, she could finally teach Marianne the benefits of tidiness and not have to work so damn hard just to keep her own room clean. But other than that, getting to share a room with her girlfriend was amazing. She couldn’t believe they hadn’t done it sooner.

It was during early Saturday mornings like this one that these thoughts really came to the forefront. Normally, if she woke up early, she’d just roll over and fall back asleep. But ever since Marianne moved in, she would lose herself in staring at her girlfriend and hardly ever manage to fall back asleep.

Sure, they’d shared a bed before. And of course they woke up together multiple times. But can you blame Hilda if it always took her by surprise? That Marianne was always so beautiful, even when she slept and drooled a little bit over Hilda’s pillow? That she got to spend yet another night with this perfect, if a little sad, whole other person that also wanted to spend the night with her? That Marianne was simply there?

There was this small part in the back of Hilda’s mind that told her to wake Marianne up. To pull her closer so that they could relish this moment together. The simple act of being together.

But there was another part of Hilda, a much louder and more reasonable part, that told her to let Marianne sleep. That she needed it. Desperately. There were still heavy bags under her eyes most days. And no matter what she told Hilda, Hilda knew she still wasn’t sleeping well. Sure, they both slept better when they got to bed together, but with their schedules that rarely happened.

_ Let her sleep _ , Hilda instructed herself for the third time this morning, even as her eyes fell to Marianne’s lips.  _ She needs to sleep. _

She was tempted to check the time. To roll over and grab her phone off her dresser, maybe scroll through social media a bit before trying to get some more sleep. But she worried doing even that would wake up Marianne. And it’s definitely not that she just wants to keep staring at her sleeping girlfriend or anything. Don’t be ridiculous.

It was somewhere around the fifteenth time she had to tell herself not to wake up Marianne with some overly affectionate cuddles when her phone suddenly decided to blast “Boss Bitch” by Doja Cat at full volume.

“Fuck!” She exclaimed almost loudly as her phone. “Shit, fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck!”

If the song and her swearing didn’t wake Marianne, her sudden leap up and around to snatch her treacherous device off her dresser certainly did. Hilda could hear her stirring at her back as she struggled to silence her phone. Maybe if she were quick enough, they could both settle back into bed and spend the day in her room. But when she saw her screen, that thought fell away and was quickly replaced by a confused sort of panic she hadn’t felt in a while.

“What the fuck?” she questioned.

Marianne had sat up now. She was leaning against Hilda’s back, resting her chin on Hilda’s shoulder in order to see the words “Douche Canoe” on the screen over a picture of a throwing axe.

“Who is it?”

“It’s my brother,” Hilda said flatly.

There was a pause. Hilda could feel Marianne’s gaze on her face as the all too loud song continued to blare around them. “Well are you gonna answer it?”

“Do I have to?” Hilda whined. But she knew the answer of course.

“Remember what happened the last time you screened his calls?”

Hilda whimpered again. But she answered the phone all the same. “Holst!” The forced cheery tone she used was so convincing that she almost believed she was actually happy to be hearing from her older brother.

“Good morning, Hilda,” he answered in a clipped, yet playful tone.

She smiled through her discomfort, not sure what that tone is supposed to mean. “What’s up?”

“I’m guessing you’re still in bed?” He asked.

Hilda’s cheeks immediately started burning. “What?” She managed a laugh.

“Hilda, what day is it?”

“Uh, Saturday. Holst, what are you--?”

“Hilda, it’s Family Weekend.”

The smile dropped from her face immediately. “Oh, shit.”  _ I forgot. _

“You forgot we were going to get breakfast today, didn’t you?”

_ I completely forgot _ . “What? No, of course not! Marianne was over last night, so I just had a long night.” Marianne scoffed audibly before smacking Hilda on the arm. She pulled away to busy herself with something else, leaving Hilda’s back all too bare and cold. “I overslept. That’s all.”

“We both know she moved into your house a few weeks ago. Don’t put this on Marianne.”

Hilda looked up at the ceiling and let out an exaggerated groan. “Oh my god, Holst! I just overslept! I’ll be there in, like, fifteen minutes.”

Holst chuckled softly on the other end of the phone. “Well, be quick about it. This place is filling up quickly.”

Hilda’s nose scrunched up. “Seriously?  _ Brianna’s _ is never packed this early.”

“It is during family weekend.”

She groaned again, and rubbed her temple. “Right. That.”

He chuckled once more. “Just, hurry up. Alright?”

“Yeah, yeah, okay. Whatever you say, dingus.”

She could practically hear him rolling his eyes. “Love you too, asshole.”

“God, okay! I love you, too, dickweed.”

She hung up on him, silencing his irritatingly smug laughter. She sat there on her bed for a few moments, staring at the far wall. Mostly she was wondering how she could’ve forgotten what weekend it was. Especially with Leonie not shutting up about it ever since New Professor Eisner told her that Old Professor Eisner was going to swing by. It must’ve just slipped her mind. She had been really busy lately with homework, so it’s totally reasonable.

Plus, she’s had Marianne here to thoroughly distract her. She could even feel Marianne staring at her now. When she turned to look at her girlfriend, Marianne simply shook her head in response.

“You have a weird relationship with your brother,” she said, almost admonishingly.

Hilda rolled her eyes. “You’re only saying that because you’re an only child.”

“Doesn’t make it less true.”

Hilda sighed dramatically. She stood from the bed and stretched her arms high over her head. “Did you know it was Family Weekend?”

Marianne arched a brow at her. “Did you not?”

Hilda let her arms fall to her sides again. She placed her hands on her hips and glanced off the side in thought. “Guess not.” She shrugged before turning and walking over to her dresser. “Holst and I were supposed to get breakfast at Brianna’s, but I kind of overslept.”

“You had a reservation, right?” Marianne asked.

“Yeah, but it was for about thirty minutes ago. I don’t know how much longer they’ll hold it for us.”

“Hilda,” Marianne scolded.

Hilda waved her off. “It’s fine. We’ll figure it out.” She found a shirt in her dresser that wouldn’t make her older brother immediately think she was some sort of harlot - despite being in a committed relationship with Marianne. She pulled the loose fabric over her head before turning around to look at Marianne. “You’re coming, right?”

Marianne stood on the other side of their bed only wearing her pants. She held two bundled up shirts in each hand and was clearly in the middle of figuring out which was clean and which was dirty. She stared blankly at Hilda for a few seconds.

“Hilda, I already told you. I’m spending the day with my father,” Marianne said.

“What?! No!” Hilda whined. She climbed onto their bed and half-crawled half-walked across the length of it to kneel beside Marianne. “Come on, I don’t want to be alone with my brother. What are we supposed to talk about?” 

Marianne tore her eyes away from Hilda. She tossed one shirt back to her growing pile of dirty clothing. She slipped the other up and over her head with little ceremony. “I’m sure you’ll manage.”

“How’m I supposed to hold up a conversation with him? I already tell him everything during our weekly phone calls.”

Marianne leveled her with a gaze. “I don’t know why you think  _ I’ll _ be able to help with that.”

“Please, come to breakfast! Your dad’s not supposed to get here until like, noon, right?”

Marianne checked her phone distantly. “Ten, actually. And it’s already 8:30.”

“Perfect!” Hilda clapped her hands excitedly. “That’s just enough time. We can get breakfast and get back here before daddy dearest shows.”

“That is not  _ nearly _ enough time with how long meals last between you and your brother.”

Hilda inched closer to Marianne. She clasped her hands in front of her and put on her best pout, the one that almost always worked on Marianne. “Please. For me?”

Marianne blinked several times, her eyes darting to and away from Hilda’s face several times. She was trying her hardest not to look directly at Hilda, and Hilda knew it. But, it still wasn’t enough.

“I’m sorry, Hilda, but I can’t. I have to be here when he gets here.”

Hilda  _ tsk _ ’d. “You’re no fun.”

Marianne rolled her eyes. “That’s me. Just no fun.”

“Fine,” Hilda exclaimed. She rolled off their bed once more. She sauntered back over to her dresser to find a pair of pants that wouldn’t send Holst into an early grave, but also worked with the modest shirt she wore. “I’ll go into the trenches alone.”

Marianne giggled at her back. “It’s just so hard to be you, isn’t it?”

“That’s what I keep telling people, but they just don’t believe me.”

She finally found a decent pair of faded black jeans that had a normal amount of rips in them. They didn’t fit super well, but they’d have to do. Standing in front of her mirror, she was more than a little bored with her bland outfit, but she didn’t have anything else here on campus that wouldn’t give her brother a reason to be disappointed in her. So with a sigh, she turned around to look at Marianne once more.

“Well, we should all get lunch, then. And go to the game together,” she decided for them.

Marianne averted her gaze. “My father has plans for today.”

“He can’t change them for his only child and her fabulous girlfriend?”

Marianne struggled to hide the smile that brought to her face. They’d only recently started calling each other ‘girlfriend’, ever since they moved in together. But the smile it always put on Marianne’s face when Hilda called her that was easily the brightest thing Hilda had ever seen.

“I’ll ask,” Marianne said softly.

“Great!” Hilda crossed the distance between them in a single effortless bound. Reaching up on her tiptoes, she kissed Marianne’s cheek, leaving the taller woman a blushing mess. “I’ll see you at lunch, then.”

* * *

Hilda did not get to Brianna’s in, like, fifteen minutes. It was a bit closer to thirty minutes later when she finally strolled on up to the humble little cafe. And Holst was right, unfortunately, the place was packed. Hilda had to fight her way through three separate families before finally spotting her brother.

Holst sat at a small table near the front of the cafe. He wore a plain white shirt over a pair of pink dress pants. He had a beige jacket hanging on the back of his chair that matched his dress shoes. He was sipping on what was probably his fourth cup of coffee and slowly munching on some white toast. He had to hold their table somehow, so minimal amounts of coffee and toast seemed to be his only solution. If it were Hilda, she would’ve ordered herself a flight of mimosas. Holst was too… Holst to do that.

Hilda crossed the small space to where Holst was sitting. She flopped herself down into the seat across from him with a sigh.

“I am  _ so _ sorry I took so long. I always forget how far this place is from the Phi Mu house,” Hilda said as way of greeting.

Holst lifted judgemental eyes her way. “Oh? You mean to tell me you weren’t spending your morning in bed with Marianne when I called and distracted you?”

“Okay, technically, yes. But we were literally just lying in bed. She was still asleep when you called,” Hilda admitted.

Holst chuckled. “Sure.”

“I’m serious, Holst!” Hilda said through a laugh. But how was she to explain to Holst the direction their relationship had gone, physically at least, without also explaining what happened to Marianne a few weeks ago? “We weren’t doing anything.” She paused to smile at him mischievously. “Not yet, at least.”

Holst rolled his eyes. “Whatever.” He tilted his head to the side and his gaze flashed behind her. “Is Marianne not joining us?”

“No, her dad’s coming to visit today. But they’re going to meet us later for lunch.”

Holst laughed. “Already thinking about lunch?”

“Just thinking about how quickly I can ditch your ass,” Hilda teased.

“Pretending to have a twisted ankle or some last minute project isn’t going to work, you know?”

She scoffed. “Says you.”

Her brother rolled his eyes once again. He plucked one of the two menus up off the table. “Just order breakfast, you little shit.”

Hilda followed suit, glancing absentmindedly at the simple menu. “You’re paying, right?”

He lowered the menu enough to glare at her over the top of it. “Hilda.”

“What?”

He sighed despondently. "You are insufferable."

She smirked back at him. "You love me."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thoughts?


	15. (Felix)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Oh hey, Rodrigue. I completely forgot you were coming out today.”
> 
> “I wouldn’t dare miss your big game,” Rodrigue said.
> 
> Sylvain waved him off. “Eh, we’re just versing Morfis State. It’ll be an easy win.”
> 
> Rodrigue shook his head with a smile. “Humble as ever.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hey, would look at that? it's been over two months since i last updated this and time stopped having meaning. heh, oops. i'm sorry, but it be like that sometimes

“Wow, so this is your apartment, huh?”

They hadn’t even gone inside, yet, and Rodrigue was already overly excited about the run of the mill townhouse Felix was renting for the year with Sylvain and Dimitri. They had only just pulled up after Felix picked his father up from the train station.

“Yep,” Felix said, biting back the vitriol he wanted to spew.

In a single fluid motion, he turned off the car and hopped out. He was waiting on the sidewalk by the time his father had even opened his door. Rodrigue barely remembered to close the car door behind him before joining Felix on the sidewalk.

“It’s really nice. When was this built? The 40’s?” Rodrigue asked.

Felix couldn’t care less when it was built. It was a college apartment. He wouldn’t live here more than a year. What did it matter?

“Sure,” Felix said flatly.

He stalked past his gawking father up the front porch. The door was unlocked, as it always was. Felix was ready for some comment about how that was unsafe, but Rodrigue never said anything. He probably didn’t notice; too distracted by the tempered glass windows or the new roof or the aged cracks in the original brick walls.

Felix heard his father whistle the moment they stepped inside. “Look at that exposed brick!” Rodrigue sighed to himself. “Glenn would love this place.”

With his back still to his father, Felix unabashedly rolled his eyes. “Yeah, sure.”

“You should invite him when he’s back home next.”

“Next time he’s stateside will be Christmas, and then he ships out again right before New Year’s. Not exactly enough time to come out here just to see an apartment.”

“Oh, right. Well, he would love this place.”

“He’s seen pictures,” Felix grumbled.

“Pictures don’t do it justice.” Rodrigue gasped as they rounded the corner to the kitchen. “ _ Look _ at that backsplash!”

“Are you going to gasp at everything you see in this place?”

Rodrigue clammed his mouth shut. He turned to Felix with that dumb look on his face. The one where he looks both apologetic and hurt at the same time. Felix isn’t sure if he makes the face to make Felix feel bad or if it’s wholly genuine. Either way, it’s stupid.

“It’s just a nice place, Felix. Can you blame me for being excited?”

Felix averted his gaze with a scowl. “Just please try to contain yourself.”

“Sure thing, Felix.”

He led Rodrigue around the rest of the apartment quickly, hoping to stymie any other ridiculous outbursts. For Rodrigue’s part, he did try and keep his excitement contained. His comments were far and few between, but that damned smile of his would not go away. It was infuriating.

They ended back in the kitchen. Without prompting, Felix put on the kettle for some tea. Rodrigue didn’t say anything still, but that stupid grin kept getting bigger.

“This really is a nice place, Felix,” Rodrigue said.

“I know,” Felix said. He crossed his arms over his chest and leaned back against the counter. “Thanks.”

Rodrigue’s smile only deepened at that. “So where are your roommates, anyway?”

“Dimitri had a lab this morning and Sylvain had a meeting with Caspar for Kappa Sig. They should be back soon.”

“We should all get lunch together,” Rodrigue said. “Ingrid, too.”

“I’ve got practice in less than an hour. And Sylvain will have to head to the field house around two to get ready for the game.”

Rodrigue _tsk_ ’d. “Maybe dinner, then?”

Felix shrugged. “Sure. Unless they have plans. Sylvain normally does.”

“We’ll just have to ask them when they get here.”

“Right.”

The kettle whistled. Felix was thankful for the distraction. He was not ready for any sort of conversation lull with his father. Rodrigue always tried to fill the silence with something neither of them really wanted to talk about. Like school.

As he turned to pour out two cups of tea, the front door opened and in came Sylvain and Dimitri. Felix didn’t have to turn around to see them to know it was in fact both of them. They were bickering over yet another party.

“ _ You _ said you wouldn’t be able to go out this semester because of football and Kappa Sig. Not me,” Dimitri said.

“That’s because I didn’t think I’d be able to. But I won’t have practice or any Greek stuff tomorrow. We should go out tonight!”

“It’s family weekend, Sylvain. What parties are there going to be?”

“Who said anything about a party? Let’s go to a bar.”

“Sylvain-- no. Just no.”

“What? Why?”

“Because I don’t want to. Is that not good enough?”

“Of course it’s good enough. But I just--”

Whatever complaint, whine, plea, or bargain Sylvain was gearing up to use, fell away the moment they stepped into the kitchen. Felix and Rodrigue were both holding - now half-empty - cups of tea. They were both staring at Sylvain and Dimitri. Only Rodrigue wore a satisfied smirk whereas Felix simply scowled at them.

“Morning, boys,” Rodrigue said, all warmth and affection in his voice.

“Rodrigue!” Dimitri exclaimed and rushed over to hug the one father figure he still had.

“Oh hey, Rodrigue,” Sylvain recovered from the shock of seeing Felix’s father already in their kitchen. “I completely forgot you were coming out today.”

“I wouldn’t dare miss your big game,” Rodrigue said.

Sylvain waved him off. “Eh, we’re just versing Morfis State. It’ll be an easy win.”

Rodrigue shook his head with a smile. “Humble as ever.”

“If you’re staying for the game, perhaps we could get dinner afterward?” Dimitri said hopefully.

Rodrigue slid his gaze to Felix. Felix refused to acknowledge him or the question. “That sounds like a great idea. Why not invite Ingrid and her folks as well?”

Sylvain and Felix snickered. Rodrigue looked between the two of them curiously before Dimitri swooped in and explained.

“I’m pretty sure she’s spending the day with Dorothea and her mom,” Dimitri said.

Rodrigue’s brow furrowed. “Really? The Galatea’s didn’t come out this year?”

“Hate to break it to you, Rodrigue, but you’re the only parent of the four of us who decided to drop by this Family Weekend,” Sylvain said.

“Well, we should still do dinner. Especially if we’re going to celebrate such an easy win,” Rodrigue said.

“You know, Rodrigue, there is this  _ great _ bar and grill that just opened nearby,” Sylvain said, though he looked completely at Dimitri the whole while.

Dimitri glared back. “You will not drop this, will you?”

“Drop what? Dinner with our dear friend Felix’s father? What’s there to drop?” Sylvain asked innocently.

“This is a nice place you boys got here,” Rodrigue said abruptly, hoping to derail them before they started bickering again.

“Have you not been here yet?” Dimitri asked.

“No, haven’t gotten around to it just yet,” Rodrigue answered.

“Didn’t you move Felix in?”

Rodrigue laughed heartily. “No, no. He moved himself in. With Sylvain’s help, of course.”

Dimitri looked at Felix accusingly. Felix only glared back. Daring him to say something. Daring him to try and start something.

“He didn’t bring that much stuff anyway,” Sylvain said, once again acting as social lubricant for their dysfunctional little ‘ _ family _ ’. “I’m the one who needed the help, really.”

“That sounds more like it,” Rodrigue laughed. “I’m surprised this is the apartment you guys chose, anyway. Seems a bit too mature for you boys.”

Sylvain gaped. “What is that supposed to mean?”

“Oh, nothing. Nothing at all.”

“We are very mature in this household, I’ll have you know,” Dimitri chimed in, finally looking away from Felix’s challenge.

“That’s why you were arguing about going to a bar just now?”

Felix rolled his eyes, already ignoring the banter that was finally resuming. His gaze slid over to the microwave and the clock display on its face. He grimaced into his cup when he realized he had about ten minutes left to get dressed and head on over to the field in time for practice. He knocked back the rest of his tea and placed it gracelessly in the sink.

“I gotta go get ready for practice,” he announced. He looked to his father curiously. “Are you coming to practice? Or are you gonna get lunch with them?”

Rodrigue didn’t seem to notice Sylvain and Dimitri giving him their best puppy dog eyes, in the hopes that he’d take them out to lunch  _ and _ dinner. “No, I’ll come with you. I could use some fresh air.”

Felix shrugged. “Alright.”

“We’ll come, too,” Sylvain declared.

Felix leveled him with a gaze. “It’s a family only practice, Sylvain.”

“We’re practically family,” Sylvain tried to argue.

“It’s fine, we’ll meet up with you guys after,” Dimitri said, knowing better than to argue at this point.

“You might, but I gotta be at the field house before they’re done,” Sylvain grumbled.

“Then we’ll have to get lunch by ourselves.”

Sylvain tossed his head back with a groan. “Ugh,  _ fine _ .”

With a shake of his head, Felix walked out of the kitchen down the hall to his room.

“Can we at least try and meet up with Leonie or Lysithea? Or  _ someone _ ?” he could hear Sylvain asking even with the door shut.

* * *

Rodrigue was waiting for Felix at the front door. He was doing something on his phone when Felix came back out of his room, answering emails probably. Felix pretended not to notice how distracted he was. They didn’t say anything to each other as they walked out of the apartment and back to Felix’s car.

The ride to practice was spent in relative silence as well, thankfully. It was only a ten minute ride, and music would normally fill that space if Felix were driving alone. But Rodrigue was apt to use their car rides as a time to try and bond with his son. Like they haven’t done enough of that over the years. Thankfully, today, Rodrigue was far too preoccupied with whatever emails he had to deal with to try and strike up a conversation. And of course, they couldn’t talk at practice. They were able to part ways at the locker room before Felix went out onto the pitch.

Caspar, Linhardt, and Ignatz were already there. There were a few of the juniors as well, but the majority of their team was probably still in the locker room.

“Oh, hey Felix!” Caspar shouted as he came over. Once he was close enough he lowered his voice to a normal level. “I see your dad came to Family Practice again.”

Felix groaned with an eye roll. “Don’t remind me.”

“I think it’s nice,” Ignatz said softly.

“That’s cause you don’t know him,” Felix grumbled.

“Well, I know I’d like it if my parents could come.’

“Hmm…” Felix turned to Linhardt and Caspar. “Your dads come to talk business with each other again?”

Linhardt sighed. “They work together already. I don’t see why they have to bring business with them everywhere.”

“I don’t mind,” Caspar admitted. “It’s better he’s mad at something work-related than something me-related.”

“At least it’s just the one weekend,” Felix grumbled.

“You can say that again,” Caspar said emphatically.

“You are all very ungrateful,” Ignatz muttered to himself.

Felix pretended not to hear it.

It wasn’t long after that that Coach Alois kicked the rest of the team out of the locker room and onto the field. Since some of their teammates were late, they all had to do suicides for the first fifteen minutes. Linhardt whined the whole while. Caspar turned it into a race. Felix used it to focus and to destress. Then came the real fun.

Every Family Weekend, Alois liked turning the practice into a mock scrimmage. He always mixed up the teams between starting players and the players that normally rode the bench. It ended with Felix and Linhardt on one team and Caspar and Ignatz on the other. This was the only thing that would get Felix through this weekend. The chance to just let loose on the field. To ignore the fact that Rodrigue was there.

So when the whistle finally blew, Felix unleashed all his pent up stress on the field.

Within the first few minutes, he’d maneuvered past the junior who was supposed to defend him and brought the ball right up to the goal. A few clever passes later and he had scored a goal.

As practice waned on, the rest of his teammates were getting tired. Even Caspar was starting to slow up. But Felix? Not him. He was operating fully on pure rage and spite. The main driving forces he uses not only on the field, but in the classroom.

He wasn’t Glenn. He’d never be Glenn. And he sure as hell didn’t want to be. So he played soccer. And he did exceptionally in school. Got into GMU on a scholarship (which he turned down as he really didn’t need it, but still). He proved to everyone that he was not Glenn. That he was better than Glenn. That he didn’t need the military to provide him structure and purpose. He could find that on his own.

It would’ve felt more satisfying if his father weren’t so damn proud of him for it. If Rodrigue didn’t also continue to endlessly compare him to his illustrious older brother.

When Alois blew the whistle to signal the end of practice, Felix was drenched in sweat. He was panting and red faced. Caspar stood beside him in a similar state of exhaustion (he had been swapped with the junior to try and stop Felix).

“Excellent job, boys!” Alois commended. “Fraldarius, I hope to see more of that spirit in our next game.”

“Of course, coach,” Felix said coolly.

“Alright, hit the showers! Hopefully I’ll see you boys at the game later!”

Felix made brief eye contact with Rodrigue before walking off the field. He was smiling that stupid, proud smile of his. Like watching Felix dominate in a pointless practice was the best thing he’d ever seen. Felix took a deep breath through flared nostrils, nodded at his father, and stalked off the field after Caspar, Linhardt, and Ignatz.

“Did you have to go so hard during that practice, Felix?” Caspar groaned. “My dad’s gonna tell me I’m going soft.”

Felix’s eyes widened. He hadn’t even thought about that. “Sorry, Caspar. I didn’t think your dad would actually watch us practice.”

Caspar scoffed. “My professional soccer athlete father? Of course he’d watch. He’s still mad I’m not a forward.” Caspar shook his head. “Ah, whatever. It’s fine. You were a machine out there. He’ll have seen that, at least. Maybe he’ll go easy on me.”

“Will he be here the whole weekend?” Ignatz asked with trepidation.

“No, thank god. He’s leaving just before the game. But I’m sure to get an earful before he does.”

“Maybe your grades will distract from your practice,” Linhardt offered with a yawn.

“Ha!” Caspar exclaimed. “Good one, Lin.”

Leaving the locker room, Felix wondered if he was maybe being too hard on Rodrigue. At least he wasn’t emotionally abusive like Mr. Bergliez. Or a bit of an absentee dad like Mr. Hevring. Sure, Rodrigue may have been absorbed in his phone as Felix walked over. And yeah, he may take a minute to realize Felix was standing in front of him. But he wasn’t that bad, right?

“Oh, hey Felix. You did great out there,” Rodrigue said with a smile.

“Thanks,” Felix answered.

Rodrigue stuffed his phone away after sending off another email. “But I’m sure Glenn could give you a run for your money.”

Then again...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> come say hi over on twitter and instagram (@bridgetserdock) and tumblr (@bridgetserdocksketches)
> 
> thoughts?


	16. (Lysithea)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Hey there, Lysithea,” an overly smug voice said.
> 
> Lysithea arched her brow smartly at the pompous overachiever sitting beside her. “Lorenz,” she ground out.
> 
> “Cake?” he asked.
> 
> Hesitantly, she accepted the bribe. “How did you find me?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> don't worry, fam, i'm not dead. just exhausted

If there was one good thing that Parents Weekend brought to GMU, it was that there were a plethora of places to hunker down and study while everyone else was busy parading their parents around campus like it was a major tourist attraction. The library was basically empty. Labs were ghost towns. Even lounges were abandoned in favor of a free meal provided by one’s parents (or one’s friend’s parents).

Unfortunately, when you have friends as pestering (caring) as Lysithea’s, they tend to make hiding out in an easy-to-find nook for hours working on your senior project very difficult. Startlingly difficult. But she’s certain she’s finally found the perfect hiding place now.

Almyra Hall. The poli-sci building.

Lysithea had tried hiding out in every conceivable location on campus. The theater department was a no go. Dorothea was heavily involved over there, which meant so were Ingrid and Sylvain. The arts building was an even greater risk. Bernadetta, Ignatz, and Ashe all spent countless hours there. Edelgard herself had caught her hiding out in there more times than she can count. The business building was probably her biggest mistake, however. She swears, every one of her friends must have at least a minor in business. They’re all always there. It’s ridiculous. Even her own dorm room was compromised.

But Almyra? She was certain none of her friends would ever come into this building. The only person she could possibly think of who might even consider dabbling in politics would be Claude. And even if he did, he was spending the whole day off campus with his family. So for today, at least, Lysithea would finally,  _ finally _ , be able to get some work done in peace.

So there she was. Tucked away in a relatively hidden corner of a lounge, far from any windows where a passerby might spy her, nose deep in research on the use of fluorescent probes to detect cancer. Completely and utterly ignorant to the world.

Minutes slid into hours as she combed through pages and pages of research. The entire day floating by without a single interruption. It was truly glorious.

Until it wasn’t.

The first indication that her day was turning south was when some random person decided it would be a good idea to sit next to her. Just completely ignoring her very clear  _ don’t-sit-with-me _ vibe she was putting out (headphones in, backpack on the chair next to her, notes covering the entire table before her). She elected to ignore it.

And then this disrespectful turd of a human decided to move her papers out of the way. They touched her work. Her research that she was in the middle of going over. No, they didn’t just touch it. They straight up picked it and slid it to the side, out of its proper place mind you, to make room for themselves to sit down.

That was it.

Lysithea yanked her headphones out, sat up straight, and turned to yell at whatever collegiate waste of space with a death wish had invaded her area. And that’s when she saw the cake, every insult she was ready to sling dying on her tongue.

“Hey there, Lysithea,” an overly smug voice said.

Lysithea arched her brow smartly at the pompous overachiever sitting beside her. “Lorenz,” she ground out.

“Cake?” he asked.

Hesitantly, she accepted the bribe. “How did you find me?” She asked, already taking her first bite of the delectable chocolate cake she’s sure he went through the trouble of baking just for her.

“Remember when you sent me your location last week when we went to that party in town?”

Her mouth hung open before the next bite. “Fuck.”

He chuckled in answer. “Any particular reason you’re hiding out in the poli-sci building.” The disgust in his voice was almost as palatable as the cake.

“So people like  _ you _ don’t find me and interrupt me while I’m  _ working _ ,” she said with a particularly withering glare. Of course it had no effect on Lorenz. Especially since she was practically inhaling his cake (bribe).

“Right. Well, your friends are worried about you, Lysithea. So why don’t we pack all this up and you can go join Ignatz and Leonie and everyone else to watch the game?” He gestured vaguely at all of her papers and materials.

“You know I don’t like football,” she grumbled weakly. They both knew she was two seconds away from caving. “And we all know you’re going to win anyway. What’s the point in going if I already know the outcome?”

“I’ve been told Mercedes made cheesecake cups for the tailgate.”

Lysithea’s eyes widened. She dropped the fork to the now empty plate. Her stomach was barely full after that singular slice of cake (no matter how delicious it was). Her mouth was already watering just at the thought of Mercedes’s baking. “No.”

“Yes.” Lorenz smiled knowingly. “Come on now, before I’m late for the game.”

She glowered at him a moment longer. She hoped the look alone told him that she wasn’t happy about any of this. But she wasn’t disagreeing. “Fine.”

* * *

Lorenz accompanied her from Almyra Hall over to her dorm in Derdriu Hall. He made sure she put all of her work away and didn’t try to sneak it into the tailgate or the game. Then he escorted her over to the fieldhouse where Mercedes, Annette, Caspar, and Felix were already setting up for the tailgate. Leaving her absolutely no room to escape back to her dorm and finish up her work.

It was infuriating (endearing).

The one solace of showing up early to the tailgate against her will was that Linhardt was also there. And he was just as happy to be there as she was.

“Oh, Lysithea,” he said when he finally looked up from his phone to see her. “I never thought you’d show up early for a  _ football game _ .”

“Not willingly,” she complained.

He smiled, slid his phone into his back pocket and turned toward the nearest table. The table wasn’t set up yet, except for the cups stacked neatly on the end. He grabbed two plastic cups before reaching under the table to find a bottle of vodka. He poured out what was definitely more than a shot’s worth into each cup. He handed one over and inclined his head at Lysithea.

“To being forced into watching twenty-two sweaty bodies collectively get CTE,” he said.

Lysithea laughed dryly. “I’ll drink to that.”

They cheersed, knocked back the vodka, and tried not to laugh. Linhardt wasted no time in filling up their cups again, this time with slightly less vodka and a fair portion of club soda.

“I take it you were hiding out before Lorenz dragged you here?” He asked, always too perceptive for his own good. Not that Lysithea really minded (of course if someone asked, she would say it was his most irritating quality).

“I was finally making some decent headway on my senior project, too.” She groaned with an exaggerated eye roll.

“The one about using depalmitoylation probes cancer detection?” He asked, genuinely curious.

“Yes!” She exclaimed. “Today was the first time all semester I finally had the chance to work on it without interruption. And then Lorenz found me and bribed me with cake.”

Linhardt’s eyes went kind of glassy at that. “I’m surprised that still works.”

She smacked him square in the chest - a comical sight considering their height difference. “Oh, shut up. All it takes to bribe you is the promise of some juicy secret.”

“Only if it has scientific value,” He argued.

“Oh really?” She guffawed. “What about that time you drove six hours just to hear about Marianne and Hilda’s first date?”

He blushed immediately and looked off to the side. “I was trying to learn how to do the same…”

As the words hit her, Lysithea realized he wasn’t simply avoiding her gaze. She followed his eyeline to see Caspar. His head tilted back as he laughed uproariously at whatever joke Annette had said. Probably some overused pun about sweets or something. As he began animatedly telling some story - his voice just barely reaching Lysithea and Linhardt - she looked back at Lin. He was smiling a purely dopey smile. It wasn’t something Linhardt normally allowed himself to do. But it wasn’t out of place. If anything, it seemed to fit him better than any frown or forced smile he would wear normally.

“You are such a sap,” Lysithea jabbed, but there was nothing but affection in her voice.

Linhardt snapped back to reality, his smile faltering, but only briefly. “Can you blame me?”

She laughed lightly with a shake of her head. “No… No, I guess I can’t.”

He shook his head, as if to clear his mind and return to the task at hand. “Now tell me about your research paper. It must be fascinating.”

She perked up at that. “Oh it is. Are you familiar with what a DPP does?”

“I’m assuming a DPP is a depalmitoylation probe?”

“Yes.”

“Ah, then no. Not really.”

“Well, they’re relatively simple. They’re small molecule fluorophores that scientists are able to use to track endogenous activity levels of 'erasers' of S-palmitoylation.”

They spend the next however long breaking down all the research Lysithea had been able to compile over the past month and a half at school. Linhardt asked plenty of questions, forcing her to go over some of the more basic parts of her research in simpler terms. As tedious as it was, it did help her understand the material better herself. And as they kept talking (and he kept asking surprisingly helpful questions), Lysithea found herself nearing an actual thesis for her senior project.

Their conversation was interrupted when the rest of their friends arrived. Not that it mattered. She felt more confident in her research, despite it being cut short by Lorenz and his delicious bribery.

When Ignatz and Leonie got there, they stuck to Lysithea like glue. Making sure she didn’t try and run off - probably under Lorenz’s instruction. But she wasn’t going to make any attempt on doing just that. There were cheesecake cups to be eaten.

The game itself proved to not be a total waste of time. Not watching it, of course. She couldn’t care less about that. But she was able to spend a good part of the game chatting away with Linhardt. No longer about her paper, but just talk. He seemed just as thankful for the distraction as she was.

Neither of them were really sure how it happened, but the game ended with a score of 54-0. Which, according to Caspar, was a school record. Apparently a number of school records were broken that night. Not that Lysithea or Linhardt knew what any of them were. But it was exciting all the same. Or rather, it was easy to get swept up in the excitement of everyone else.

GMU wasted no time in celebrating, barely waiting for Morfis State to load onto their busses before flooding the field. Coach Gilbert fired up the grill. Someone (probably Felix) started playing music. And everyone was cheering, drinking (responsibly of course; there were parents there tonight), and eating like it was the best night of their lives. And for some of them, it probably was (dreadful thought, really).

With the game over and a simple party laid bare before her, Lysithea couldn’t help but agree that it was probably a good thing she took a break today. Of course, immediately after having that thought was when Lorenz found her again.

He sidled up alongside her where she stood guard over the dessert table. “I’m surprised you’re still here,” he said. He was so smug about it she could hear his smile in his words and not just see it plastered to his face.

“I’m just here for the cheesecake, Lorenz.”

He glanced past her to the table she possessively guarded. “Looks like they’re all gone, though.”

With a menacing glare, she took a bite of one of the peanut butter brownies Annette had brought. “Your point?”

“You had fun tonight. Admit it.”

She finished the brownie and wiped her hands off on his jersey. “I’ll admit that it wasn’t a complete waste of my time.”

“What a glowing review,” he drawled, not even reacting to the chocolate staining his already soiled shirt.

She took a step toward him and jabbed a finger up at his face. “But if you  _ ever _ think of interrupting me like that again, you will never play another game in your life. You hear me, Gloucester?”

He chuckled lightly, not at all intimidated or fearful. “Perfectly.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> come say hi over on twitter and instagram (@bridgetserdock) and tumblr (@bridgetserdocksketches)
> 
> thoughts?


End file.
